Wolf of Fire
by GhostMajor
Summary: After Princess Ursa's baby dies during birth, a mysterious woman offers her own son as the new Prince of the Fire Nation. But Prince Zuko isn't human; he's a Wolf, a race thought to be extinct in the Water Tribes. Can he survive when Ozai finds out?
1. Prologue

Wolf of Fire

Prologue

"Prince Ozai?" asked a timid servant as she approached the clearly upset man brooding in the palace garden.

"Well?" he growled, his patience long spent. It had been over a day ago that he was told to wait outside of the special chambers that his wife currently occupied.

The girl fidgeted nervously under the prince's intense gaze. "There were a few difficulties, but both the baby and Princess Ursa are doing fine. You may go see them now if you wish."

Ozai didn't even wait for her to lead the way. Within minutes, he was opening the door to the birthing room, his eyes falling on the tired form of Ursa. In her arms was a small bundle, in which he could clearly see a tuft of jet-black hair. He cautiously made his way over to her bedside. Peering at the small face of the babe, he asked, "Is it…? Are you…?"

The princess looked up at him and smiled. Ozai saw a flash of something in her eyes, but it vanished before he could place it. "He," she said, "he and I are both fine."

Taking a closer look at the boy, the prince noticed some things he thought seemed a bit odd. He definitely had the newborn look about him, but he seemed…almost too large, as if he were a few days older. But that was impossible. Maybe he was just a large baby? The servant did say there had been some difficulties…

The other oddity was his eyes. They looked almost too gold to be human. As their eyes made contact, a chill ran down Ozai's spine. His irises looked like two pure gold nuggets lit by Agni's glory. Hopefully this was a sign he would be a strong Firebender someday. The thought made the man smirk. His son would grow to be a powerful man, not a weakling like that nephew of his.

"Have you chosen a name for him?" he asked. He reached out a hand to place it on his son's small head, but as soon as his fingers brushed up against hair, Ursa's hand shot out and clutched his. She offered no explanation for this, merely laced their fingers together and smiled at him again.

"I have thought of a name, but I wanted to discuss it with you first, my love." At Ozai's raised eyebrow, she continued. "I think the name 'Zuko' fits him well."

"You want to call our son a name meaning 'Ancestor's Robber'"?

Ursa giggled, brushing her thumb along her husband's knuckles. "There are two ways of writing 'Zuko'. There is that one, and there is one that means 'Resurrected Rule'. I know he is meant for great things. I think that if ever the time comes that he must lead his people, they will follow him, and together they will change this world for the better."

Ozai smiled. "As appealing as that sounds for my son, I am curious. How exactly do you know all this?"

"Mother's just know these things." She turned her tender gaze back to the now sleeping child. "This boy has been touched by Agni, I can feel it."

"Zuko it is, then," the prince said. With that, he gave his wife a kiss on the head, then made his way out of the room to let her rest.

It never even crossed his mind that he hadn't been offered to hold his new son.

WOLF OF FIRE

Barely a minute had past when Ursa saw the bundle in her arms change. Where there once were chubby cheeks and a small stubby nose was now a short muzzle with a black, wet nose on the end. The pale skin and black hair were replaced with soft, snow-white fur and two tiny pointed ears jutted from within. A paw now stuck in the air, where little fingers had once appeared to be clutching their mother's own finger.

Except, they weren't. For the simple face that Ursa _wasn't_ the mother. Zuko was not her real child. Her baby, the true blood of Sozin's lineage, had not survived. He had been stillborn.

To say she had been devastated would have been an understatement. It had been a difficult pregnancy to begin with; she had done everything she could to ensure both she and her baby pulled through. But in the end, it hadn't been enough. Her midwife, Naomi, said he had apparently had a weak heart, and the strains of labor had been too much on him.

That was when she appeared. A Water Tribe slave by the name of Akarra, who had been captured and forced to work in the palace years ago, when she was a mere teenager. She was not a bender, so no one saw her as any sort of threat, yet no one had detected her presence upon entering the room. Akarra was a stunning woman; tan skin, long flowing brown hair, and the bluest eyes Ursa had ever seen.

Neither the princess nor her midwife knew how she found out, but somehow Akarra knew of the fate of the Fire Nation's newest prince. Then, from beneath her flowing robes, she produced a small, white animal. Despite all protests, she seemed to glide over to the body of the lifeless child and pulled back the sheet, revealing his face. The woman hummed to herself, seemingly making up her mind about something before covering the baby up again and turning to the other two occupants of the room.

"Never before in the history of my people has something such as this occurred," Akarra told them. Her voice was almost contradictory. It was quiet and gentle, but it also carried an edge to it, as if it were the low growling of a fierce predator. She looked down at the creature in her arms. "It is said that when a White One is born, the Spirits awaken, become more active, and change is imminent for the People of Ookami."

"Ookami?" Ursa asked, confused. "I've never heard of anything like that."

The look in Akarra's eyes could only be described as heartbroken. "No. You wouldn't have. They are said to have died out hundreds of years ago; we live now only as myths and bedtime stories for Water Tribe children."

Before the princess could ask any more, the tiny creature changed. She had to blink a few times to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her. Akarra was now holding a human baby; or to be more specific, _her_ baby. Only it wasn't. Ursa could still clearly see his body underneath the sheet nearby. "What…? How…?"

"This little one was born to me three days ago. No one knew I was carrying him. As of yet, he is still nameless. My people have a strong connection with the Spirits, and I have not been given their blessing to name him. It is not my right." Bowing her head, the Water Tribe woman extended her arms, holding the baby out for Ursa to take. "Lady Ursa, by the request of Ookami; of Tui and of La; and of your own element's Spirit, Agni, I offer my child to you. Raise him to be the strong leader his destiny claims him to be."

"W-wait a minute," Ursa stuttered. "You're…giving me your baby?" Akarra nodded. "But why? How can you just…give him away like that? …And how…how is it that that animal is now m-my baby's double? And how was that animal you're child?" Her head was really starting to hurt. Naomi came up and put a reassuring hand on the princess' shoulder. She seemed to be too stunned to do much more, let alone speak.

Akarra sighed. Moving forward, she placed the baby in Ursa's arms, forcing her to hold him before backing away from the bed. Ursa looked warily at the bundle against her chest. It looked…so much like her son. But she could tell, could _feel_ that it wasn't; it wasn't even human. It was like some sort of illusion. Her eyes told her that she was holding a human infant, but touching him, she could telling he was anything but. She could feel his soft fur through the blanket, the slight wagging of a tiny tail, and the occasional twitch of one of four feet as the baby…whatever he was dreamed.

A gasp sounded next to her and she looked up at her midwife. Ursa's breath caught in her throat as she saw just what it was that made the woman gasp. Standing a few feet away from the bed was a large animal. Its fur was black as coal, and its eyes were like staring into the depths of the ocean itself. She started as she heard a voice; Akarra's to be precise, coming from its direction.

"This is the true form of the People of Ookami." Though the creature's mouth did not move, it was obvious it, she, was the one speaking.

"Dear Agni," breathed the older woman. "What in Spirit's name are you?"

"I am a Wolf." At their confused looks, she continued. "Hundreds of years ago, my people were considered a threat to the people of the Water Tribes. We both hunted the same caribou-elks and they feared we would take it all and leave them with none. So, they began to hunt us. It became a sport among them," Akarra spat, venom in her voice. "Young men wouldn't be allowed to call themselves warriors until they brought home one of our corpses; they held competitions to see who was the strongest by trying to kill more of us than their friends; and merchants sold our pelts for profit, all so they could make their lives easier or more enjoyable while our young were orphaned and our pack began to dwindle.

"For many moons we prayed to Ookami, the Spirit of the Wolf, to help us survive. Then one night when the moon was full, and La shone down brightly upon our small pack, a White One was born, and with it, we were blessed with our ability to hide in plain sight. It was a skill he was born with, and he soon taught the rest of us how to hide as well. Afterwards, we moved to the Water Tribe cities, and blended in with their people. We let them believe we had gone extinct, so they would never again start with their pointless slaughter."

"This hiding," Ursa asked, "it has something to do with why you looked human before…and why he looks human now?" She motioned towards the child.

"That is correct," Akarra told her. "That one is not yet old enough to hold the spell on his own, so I am casting it for him, and I will continue to do so until he is old enough to learn it for himself. Though I will not be able to cast it constantly; neither will he. Eventually our spirits grow tired and hiding becomes physically painful. We must rest in our true forms. The effect is even stronger for White Ones, who represent the pride of the Wolves. But I will cast it whenever it is needed, I promise you that."

"…Why are you doing all of this?"

The wolf shimmered, and the woman stood before her once more, a sad look in her eyes. "It is not without reluctance that I give him to you, but for whatever reason, I have been asked to give this White One to you; to raise as your own, and teach him your ways. As such, he will be a strange Wolf, that is for certain, but he has already been touched by Agni. The Spirit of the Sun shines brightly in his eyes.

"As a White One, he is destined for greatness. As a prince, his chances for success will be all the better. That's not to say he will not have a difficult time getting there, but the Spirits have assured me his actions, the decisions he makes, will change the world. He will live as the first ever…Wolf of Fire."

**Disclaimer: I'm only gonna put this on this chapter, because it's obvious in all the others. I don't own any of this! All characters belong to Bryke and Nickelodeon. The only thing I claim as my own is the plot…to a certain extent…**

**Reviews are loved! :D**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The first years of Zuko's life were great. His mother adored him, he had a wonderful nanny, and his father was just proud he had a healthy heir. Ozai didn't seem to mind not touching his son and never argued when his wife or Akarra came up with some excuse or other why he shouldn't.

Zuko eventually even got a little sister.

He and Azula were practically inseparable. She had never seen his true form, but she understood that her brother was not like she or their parents; what she saw was not what she felt when she hugged him. This didn't bother Azula, though. Zuzu was Zuzu and that's all that mattered.

But then when she was five, she created her first flame. Zuko was already seven, and he couldn't even create a puff of smoke. That's when Ozai started to change, and in turn, Azula began to change as well. He knew his daughter was a prodigy, and decided to milk it for all it was worth. As Azula spent more and more time with her father and private tutors, she grew colder, more sadistic. As she got older, she and Zuko drifted farther from each other, and eventually, she forgot about her brother not feeling the same way he looked.

Akarra, who had taught Zuko how to hide his true form, showed him how he could do more with the spell. Soon he was starting Firebending lessons of his own, though he was only able to perform the katas, much to Ozai's chagrin. Even these, he found difficult though. Not only did he have to focus on his actual movements and figure out how to match his four paws with that of his teacher's limbs, but he also had to make sure his illusion was moving correctly as well.

It wasn't until he was eleven that Zuko really began training seriously. His mother had just vanished and his grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, passed away, leaving his father as the new Fire Lord. He put everything he had into his training, desperate in his need to please Ozai. It seemed almost as if these horrible events had put a huge gap between he and his father. Ozai would look at his son with barely suppressed contempt…disgust even. Zuko had no idea why this was, but he was determined to make his father proud.

And then that fateful day came; the day that changed his life forever. He was attending his very first war meeting, but it wasn't at all like he had imagined. One of the generals actually suggested they send in an entire troop of new recruits as bait. They were sending those men out to be slaughtered! This triggered something deep within the thirteen-year-old. He couldn't explain it, but the thought of innocent people being pointlessly killed like that seemed to hurt his very being. The pain was almost unbearable; such a deep, sad ache in his very soul that make him want howl to the Heavens in anguish. Zuko held back a growl as he jumped to his feet to speak out against this horrible plan.

He quickly learned his outburst was a bad idea as Ozai sent him a glare so cold Zuko couldn't even suppress the whimper that escaped his throat. But then the old general challenged Zuko to an Agni Kai, and changed his mind just as fast. This was it! He could use this to help him get back in his father's good graces. If Zuko beat a general in a duel, Ozai would be proud of him for sure! And now that he could actually spar, thanks to his hours upon hours of training by himself, there was no doubt in his mind that he could win.

His illusion had gotten so strong, he could actually make people coming in contact with him believe that they were actually feeling what they were seeing. The only thing he couldn't manage was adding heat to the flames that appeared to shoot out of his hands and feet. Akarra was baffled by this; she said she had never seen a spell cast so powerfully before. Zuko knew he could beat the general easily.

Only, it wasn't the old general standing in the arena with him when he turned around on the day of the Agni Kai. It was Fire Lord Ozai himself.

Zuko's breath caught in his throat has his father began walking toward him, saying something about disrespecting the Fire Lord by speaking out in his war room. He really couldn't hear what all he was saying by this point; his mind was running a mile a minute, never quite grasping onto a complete thought.

Then it all suddenly clicked with painful clarity: he was supposed to fight his father…in front of hundreds of people. The prince dropped into a submissive position, head and tail lowered, while his illusion showed as him cowering on his hands and knees to the masses. Zuko begged the Fire Lord not to have to fight him; pleaded for mercy from the man.

Ozai sneered down at him, pure hatred in his eyes, as he said the words that would haunt Zuko for years to come. "You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."

Then came the pain; heat seared the left side of his face, starting around the corner of his eye and burning his pointed ear. He let out a cry as his whole head felt as if would explode any second. It was an earsplitting, animalistic howl that made the Fire Lord reel back; eyes wide and hand still smoking.

Zuko thought things couldn't get any worse. He was wrong. He hadn't yet known that he was also banished, cursed to find and capture the Avatar if he ever wished to return home. Nor did he know that Ozai had been waiting for such an opportunity as this to get rid of the imposter that claimed to be his son.

The last thing he remembered before the darkness claimed him was the feeling of his nanny, Akarra, taking over his spell for him and being lifted into the arms of his Uncle Iroh.

WOLF OF FIRE

Zuko started as he awoke from a fitful sleep. He hated dreaming about the past. It was bad enough it had all happened in the first place. Now he had to relive it in his sleep too?

He sighed as he stretched the stiffness from his front legs and shoulders. Being in the wilderness, Zuko hadn't bothered casting his spell very often. Lately it had been almost…painful to use it for more than a few minutes. It felt as if he were slowly burning from the inside out. It wasn't as if he minded being in his true form, so not using his spell didn't really bother him. Besides, the only other person out here in middle of nowhere was his uncle, and he had seen his true form many times.

Speaking of Uncle…

Zuko glanced around the small cave they had been staying in the past couple of days to see the old general nowhere in sight. The man had already wandered off on his own a few days ago. When asked where he went, Iroh had simply stated that he was off enjoying one of life's many joys: drinking tea with a stranger. Zuko wasn't amused in the slightest.

Getting to his feet at last, he walked over to the mouth of the cave. Zuko sniffed the ground for the newest trail made by Iroh. It wasn't an easy feat, considering they had been there a while; too long, in fact. If Azula decided to ambush them, they'd be in trouble…

There. The scent was slightly stronger, meaning it hadn't been long since his uncle had been through here. It didn't take long to follow the trail; Iroh had a really strong scent. When Zuko found him, he groaned.

"Why is it every time I go looking for you, I find you naked in a random hot spring?" he asked, clamping his eyes shut tight. "And how do you even keep _finding_ them?"

Iroh laughed, eyes twinkling. "Nephew, when you get to be my age, nothing is more relaxing than a nice dip in a hot spring -expect maybe a cup of tea. It warms the bones and eases the muscles. And as for how I find them, though it may be water, hot springs still give off heat. If a Firebender looks for it, they can feel that heat and follow it just like you follow a person's scent."

"So you _do_ search for them," Zuko growled.

"Of course!"

Sighing, Zuko turned to go back to the cave. Before he could make it back into the trees, his sensitive nose was hit with an all too familiar smell. "Uncle, hurry and get dressed!" he yelled as he whipped back around, an urgent bark escaping his mouth. At Iroh's confused expression, he added hastily, "There's a lone salamander-hound just to the west of here, which means Azula's close by. We have to go".

A few minutes later, the old general met Zuko at the mouth of the cave and hastily put their meager items in his pack, fully intending on running the other way.

"Zuko!" he yelled as the Wolf ran towards the smell.

Zuko stopped reluctantly and turned to his Uncle, paws stamping restlessly on the ground, begging him to keep sprinting. "I'm not gonna run away anymore, Uncle. I'm tired of living like this. Keep moving west, that's the way she's headed. I'm going on ahead."

With that he was practically flying across ground, nose in the air to follow the powerful musk given off by Azula's favorite mount. It wasn't long until he came upon an old, deserted mining town. He didn't even need the musk anymore; he could smell his sister…and the Avatar.

He hastily cast his spell and stepped into the street behind the girl, the Avatar on the other side of her. "Azula!" he yelled.

"Zuko?" asked the young boy. "Wait, you mean he's you're brother?"

They had been talking about him?

"Well, well, you have a lot of guts showing up here, Zuzu," Azula said, smirking. "Don't tell me you're still on your worthless quest to 'capture the Avatar'. You know it won't do you any good. I'm pretty sure I made it quite clear last time we met that Father doesn't like imposters."

Aang looked completely confused. "Imposter? What are you talking about? You mean that's not Prince Zuko?"

"Oh, he's the same Zuko that chase you halfway across the world. But he's not a real prince. He's not even Fire Nation." The princess was practically giddy as she revealed one of Zuko's biggest secrets.

"Azula, please, don't," the Wolf pleaded.

"What do you mean?"

"The _real_ Prince Zuko, the _real_ son of Fire Lord Ozai, died shortly after birth. Princess Ursa was a coward and hid it from everyone but her midwife, Fire Lord Azulon, and a Water Tribe slave…who also happens to be Zuko's real mother."

"Shut-up…"

"Wait a minute," the Avatar gaped, "Zuko's actually Water Tribe?"

"Please, just shut-up…"

"That's right," Azula spat. "His mother was some greedy whore, who sold Zuzu here to _my_ mother. And they actually have the world believing that he was the heir to the throne!" She laughed. "It's no wonder he disgraced himself and ended up banished. He's worthless Water Tribe trash!"

"I said shut-up!" Zuko roared. Launching himself at his sister, his illusion brought down a flaming foot toward her head. She dodged easily, sending a blast of her own as he landed behind her, knocking him off his feet.

Aang gave a yelp of surprise and leaped into the air, his glider snapping open. Azula sent a jet of blue fire directly toward him. He spun the staff around, dissipating the flame and using it to slow his descent to a safe speed. Rolling out of the way of another blast, the Avatar used his staff to jump over the girl's head, landing in a defensive stance. Just as he started to send a blast of air at her, both benders froze as they heard a low growl coming from not far away.

Standing behind Azula, teeth bared and hackles raised, was a large, white…animal of some kind. Even with its head lowered, it still came up to Aang's waist. He had a brief urge to hop on it and go for a ride, but a glance at the sharp fangs in its mouth quickly changed his mind. The fur around its left eye was noticeably shorter than the thick fur that covered the rest of its body, and the eye itself appeared as though it didn't open fully. The left ear was also not quite right. It was shorter than the other one, and the edges on the top and left side of it were ridged, like a burn that had healed crudely. He could swear though, that those golden eyes looked…familiar.

"What is that?" Azula asked, quietly.

She received no answer as the animal leaped at her with surprising speed. Aang breathed a sigh of relief as Azula dodged it. It was clearly going for her throat. She kicked it in the side with a flaming foot, knocking it a good ways down the road where it skidded to a halt. It didn't get up.

The Fire Princess rolled to her feet and sent a fireball at the still shocked Avatar. Coming back to the present, he jumped aside, narrowly missing a severe burn. Azula raised her fist, ready to strike again when a stream of water wrapped around her wrist, yanking her backwards.

"Katara!" Aang yelled, relieved.

The Waterbender turned and ran as the other girl sent several blasts of blue flame her way. She led her down an alleyway, where a quick swing of Sokka's club to the air inches from Azula's face slowed her pursuit. Aang joined them, and together they began to push her back.

"…ko. Zuko, get up!"

"Uncle…?" The Wolf cracked open his eyes, moaning at the pain flaring in his ribs. One of them was definitely broken.

"Get up, my nephew," Iroh said, reaching a hand around Zuko's shoulders to help haul him up. "We must hurry."

Standing slowly, Zuko shook himself carefully, attempting to get the dust off of him without jarring his injury. "They know, Uncle…" He said quietly as he followed the general through the streets. "Father and Azula know who I really am…"

Iroh faltered slightly in his sprint. Though he didn't say anything, his emotions were written clearly on his face: sadness, sympathy, concern.

Neither had time to contemplate this new turn of events long as they rounded a corner, Azula suddenly running right into Iroh's stomach. She bounced backwards, a look of pure confusion on her face. Before she could react, the Avatar's group had joined in, including a small girl in Earth Kingdom colors that Zuko had never seen before, blocking off the princess' exits. She backed up to a burnt building, nowhere to go.

Azula sneered at them. "Well, look at this. Enemies and traitors all working together. I'm done." She raised her hands, the picture of surrender. "I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor. "

Zuko, who had his spell cast once more, smirked. He looked at his uncle, but the man was not looking in his direction, not even at Azula. Iroh was gazing curiously at the little Earthbender. The next thing Zuko knew, there was a loud crackling noise and Uncle was flying backwards, eyes wide and pain written on his face. Zuko screamed.

Running toward the fallen man, he could hear a large explosion behind him as the benders of the Avatar's group sent their various elements at the Fire Nation Princess. When the smoke cleared, she was gone.

Zuko didn't even care. All he could think about was one of the only family members he had that cared about him slowly dying right before his eyes. He didn't even noticed as he lost his grip on his spell. It helped ease his physical pain, but he could feel his heart breaking.

"Uncle?"

No answer.

"Uncle, please, I can't lose you," he pleaded, a whimper escaping his throat.

Iroh moaned; his faced twisted in a pained grimace. Zuko moved forward, licking the wound on his chest gently, when something cold wrapped around one of his back legs jerking him back.

The Wolf whirled around, snarling at the offending Waterbender. "What are you doing? Let me go, peasant! I have to help him!"

The water around his leg dropped to the ground with a soft splash. "Did that thing just…?"

Realizing why he was getting such annoyingly wide-eyed looks, Zuko recast his spell. Unfortunately, this just brought forth a collection of gasps, that is, from all but the Earthbender, who didn't seem to notice.

"Wait a minute," Aang asked. "That animal back there was actually…Zuko?"

Zuko sighed, "Yes, now are you gonna just stand there staring at me all day, or are you gonna help?" He directed the last part toward Katara.

She seemed to snap to attention at this and jumped slightly. "R-right!" Rushing over to Iroh's side, she pulled some water out of her water skin, keeping a good distance between herself and Zuko and knelt down beside him.

"So is somebody gonna tell me why everybody's freaking out?"

"Oh, sorry, Toph," Aang said sheepishly. "It's just that, while I was fighting Azula, Zuko, her brother apparently, showed up, and then a big white animal came out of nowhere, and disappeared and Zuko reappeared, then _it_ was back, and now _Zuko's_ back again, and apparently he _is_ the animal," he finished, out of breath.

"Uh…huh," Toph said slowly. "So basically, what you're saying is that you're seeing a human standing over there, when I'm feeling a big, four-legged animal in its place?"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Sokka asked. "Zuko's messing with our heads or something to make us think he's human?"

Zuko looked at him, surprised, letting his spell fade as the pain began to flare again. "That's…not far from the truth, actually."

"What?" The Water Tribe boy screeched. "You're doing some sort of mind control on us? How long have you been doing this?" He pointed an accusing finger at the boy in front of him.

He returned it with a glare, sitting impatiently next to his uncle, wishing the girl would hurry up so they could leave. "I'm not controlling your minds. I only adjust what your minds think you see so you don't see my true form. And I've been doing it since I was little, when Akarra taught me how to do it on my own."

Katara's eyes opened. She pulled her hands back slightly and asked, "Akarra? That's a Water Tribe name. What was someone from the Water Tribe doing in the Fire Nation?"

Zuko didn't answer, his gaze going back to his uncle. Katara caught on and continued with healing the man.

The others, unfortunately, didn't catch the hint that he didn't want to talk about it as easily.

"She's you're real mother, isn't she?" Aang asked, eyes widening as it dawned on him.

Again, Sokka let out an annoying, "What?"

"Azula said that Zuko's not actually related to her or the Fire Lord. She said he's not even Fire Nation! The real prince died after birth, and Zuko's real mother is a Water Tribe slave that sold him to the prin-"

"Shut-up!" the Wolf snarled, baring his teeth at the Avatar. "You don't know anything! Akarra didn't sell me. She gave me to my mother after her baby was stillborn. My father needed an heir, and there would have been a lot of problems if he didn't get one soon. It was the only way. She didn't want to give me up. The only reason she did was because Ookami asked her to."

"Hold on," Sokka said. "Ookami. As in…the Spirit of the Wolves?"

Zuko nodded.

"But…Wolves went extinct centuries ago," Katara told him. "Why would Ookami still be asking requests of Water Tribe people?"

Sokka suddenly gasped, his eyes widening. "You've gotta me kidding me," he breathed. "All this time they've been hiding right under out noses."

Zuko hummed in agreement. "Akarra told me about it. How your people killed us for sport. Apparently our pack almost died out, but Ookami gave us the ability to hide after the first White One was born."

"Us?" Aang asked. "So you're not part of the Fire Nation anymore?"

"I will always be Fire Nation," Zuko growled. "But regardless of where I was born, it doesn't change the fact that I'm a Wolf. My real mother my have been from the Water Tribe, but she's _isn't_ Water Tribe. Wolves may live in the Poles with them, but we will _never_ be part of the people that mercilessly slaughtered our ancestors. It'd be like the Avatar suddenly saying _he_ was Fire Nation." He ignored the flinch this comment caused the boy. These people were really starting to get on his nerves. And what was taking that Waterbender so long?

"Am I the only one who doesn't have any idea what's going on?" Toph asked. Her question seemed to ease some of the tension in the air and Sokka turned to her and began telling her the story of the People of Ookami, Aang listening intently as well.

Zuko tuned them out, turning instead to Katara. "How is he?"

The Waterbender pulled her hands away, wiping sweat off her brow with her sleeve. "He's stable, but it'd be better if we can get him somewhere more comfortable. He'll heal faster if he's able to relax."

"…Okay." He stood and began to walk away, only to turn and ask tentatively, "Would…would you mind taking him on the bison? I can't…really carry him…" He looked down at his paws and cocked his head to the side in what seemed to almost be a shrug.

Katara smiled at him. "Of course, but, where are you going?"

"Uncle has a pack somewhere around here…" He sniffed the ground, searching for Iroh's trail, even though he wouldn't really need it for a while. "I-I'll be back," he hold her awkwardly before heading back through the streets. It didn't take him long to find the pack; Uncle had apparently held onto it until he saw Zuko lying on the ground. He grabbed it in his teeth, making sure he had a good grip on it, before lifting it off the ground and making his way back to the others.

When he got there, Iroh was already on the bison, which had apparently flown in only moments ago.

Aang took the bag from him, sending it up to the saddle with his bending. "Do you…do you, ya know, need any help getting up there?"

Zuko looked at him briefly before leaping onto the bison's back, leaving the Avatar gaping down below.

"You…how did you? No one can get up on Appa like that without Airbending!" The Avatar's mouth looked amusingly like a fish gasping for air.

"What can I say? I'm a good jumper."

"Aang, are you coming?" Katara asked, peeking her head over the side of the saddle.

"Yeah, come on, Twinkle Toes! Let's get moving already!"

"Right, coming!" Aang jumped onto Appa's head, taking the reigns in his hands. He could hear Katara asking Zuko if he really wanted to be used as a pillow, to which he replied the affirmative, he was used to it. "Everybody ready?" Not even waiting for a reply, he hollered out a, "Yip yip!" and they were off.

No one really knew if they could trust the Wolf and his Firebending uncle -except for Toph, maybe- but one thing was for certain, having them around would definitely make things…interesting.

**A/N: So begins the AU tale of Wolf!Zuko. Some things in the story will be the same, but I guarantee you that this will bring a whole new twist to the original story.**

**Let me know what you think! Reviews are loved! :D**

**Also, for those of you who read my story "Balance" and haven't read my profile, I will be working on this fic while I try to come up with a plot for that one, as I have forgotten where I was going with it. D: Anyway, if anyone has any ideas for it, let me know and I might be inspired enough to work on it again. Until then, it is on a temporary hiatus. xP Good news for this story though, I have the plot and timeline all written out so I won't forget! :D**


	3. Chapter 2

Wolf of Fire

Chapter 2

They decided to set up camp in the forest on the outskirts of a small Earth Kingdom town. It was only due to Zuko's urging that they didn't stay in the village itself. But everyone eventually agreed that, no, waltzing into a place possibly full of angry Earthbenders with two Fire Nation Princes was a bad idea, Avatar or no. So, they settled in a clearing a few miles away for easy access to food and medicine for Iroh.

The old general had finally woken up a few days after being struck down by Azula thanks to Katara's healing, but still, his nephew refused to leave his side.

Zuko honestly surprised the members of the gAang during that time. Sure, he was irritable and often snapped at them -sometimes literally- but it was apparent that he genuinely cared about Iroh, not just about himself like they originally thought.

And once the Water Tribe siblings thought about it, Zuko's behavior made perfect sense. In all of the tales and legends of Wolves, they had one thing in common: not only were the People of Ookami a proud race, but they were also incredibly loyal to their pack. They would follow their leader to the Spirit World and back without care about their own well-being. Very little could be done to break the bond between a leader and their pack, but once it was, the pack members would stop at nothing to see the leader's demise.

The question now was, how to break the bond between Zuko and Fire Lord Ozai, one-sided as it was? Or was it already broken?

The teens tried several times to question the former Fire Prince, but all they would get were one-word answers or an annoyed growl.

It didn't help that Zuko stayed in his true form the entire time. The fact that the person who had chased them around the world was actually a big, snarling animal with large fangs and sharp claws didn't help their uneasiness at him eating and sleeping mere meters from them.

Things did get a bit easier, though with Iroh awake. The old man was definitely more talkative than his nephew.

"…And within the first week aboard the ship, he had the entire crew scared out of their wits! They thought we were being haunted by a vengeful spirit that howled each time the moon was full!"

"Uncle," Zuko growled in warning as the other's laughter filled the campsite.

"Oh, cheer up, Fluffy. We all have embarrassing stories of our own," Toph said, flicking a piece of dirt aside.

Zuko grumbled," I don't see anyone telling _those_ around here". Then, "And don't call me Fluffy!"

"Well Zuko, you are kinda…fluffy," Katara added.

The Wolf bared his teeth at her. "It's a winter coat!"

"That reminds me, Prince Zuko, you appear to be shedding quite a bit as of late," Iroh said, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

Zuko snarled at his uncle, shaking himself to prove that he was _not_ shedding. Unfortunately, this just sent white fur throughout the clearing, stirring many coughing fits and complaints. Zuko turned his head toward the tree line, ignoring all eye contact. If he were capable of blushing, his cheeks would be a deep crimson by this point. Okay, so maybe he _was_ shedding. It wasn't his fault his fur had grown thicker during his time spent in the north. Now that spring was here and he was farther south, a thick coat just wasn't needed; rarely was he not panting. It wasn't his fault his body just did these things on their own! And would they stop complaining already? He was the one burning alive! They didn't have to worry about fur on a daily basis.

Aang, ever the peacekeeper, decided to change the subject upon seeing Zuko was barely seconds from biting someone's throat out. "So um, Zuko," he started, causing the prince to turn from the trees. "I was wondering. How do you use Dao swords when you, ya know, don't have hands?"

This seemed to take him by surprise. "How did you know that I…?" Then it dawned on him. "Oh. Well, I know how to move to make it look like I'm using them, but my Dao are just like my bending."

"What do you mean by that?" Sokka asked.

"…I've never held a sword before…and I've never Firebended either."

There was a chorus of "What?", "What are you talking about?", and "That's impossible, we've _seen_ you do it!" that made Zuko cringe. These people were too loud for his sensitive ears.

He glanced at Iroh in hopes the man would take over for him and save him from having to explain himself. He didn't want the Avatar and his friends knowing _all_ of his secrets! But no such luck, which was no surprise really, considering who he was and the fact that he had no luck. Uncle motioned for him to continue, taking a sip of his tea. He had started it, he'd have to be the one to finish it.

Sighing, Zuko cast his spell and moved over to sit in front of the other teens. All but Toph tensed as he brought his hand forward, palm up, bringing a small flame to dance atop it.

"Um," the Water Tribe boy started. "You realize you're not helping your claim at all, right?"

"Touch it," Zuko said simply.

"Are you insane? I'm not sticking my hand in fire!" Sokka screeched.

"How could you even ask him to do something like that, Zuko?" Katara added angrily.

The Wolf sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "I wouldn't have someone do this if I weren't one hundred percent sure they wouldn't get burned. Just trust me."

Sokka scoffed. "Trust you? Not only did you chase us halfway across the world, but we find out you're doing some weird magic thing to mess with our heads and –Aang! Don't touch it!"

Indeed, the young Avatar was doing just that. He sat wide-eyed in stunned silence as Katara grabbed his arm and pulled his hand from the fire, healing water at the ready.

Taking a closer look, she breathed, "He's not burnt…"

"I told you nothing would happen."

Aang seemed to snap out of his stupor saying, "It wasn't hot. It wasn't even _warm_ at all. But how…how is that…? I felt your Dao on my neck! How can that not be real?"

"I can make people think they're feeling my illusion…but not with Firebending. That's the only thing I can't do." A pause, then, "And I apparently can't fool blind Earthbenders who see with their feet."

Toph laughed. "You got that right, Fluffy! You can't hide those antsy paws from my sight with your 'spell'. But seriously, stop shuffling from foot to foot like that. It's getting really annoying."

Zuko sent her a glare, irritated that it had no effect on her. "I hate sitting still," he mumbled.

"Then perhaps you would be so kind as to run into town to get more tea leaves? We seem to have ran out," Iroh asked.

"I'll go too," Katara said, standing up. "I need to pick up some more herbs…and we could probably use some more food too."

Sokka shot to his feet, grabbing his sister by the arm. "Oh no, ya don't. I'm not letting you go anywhere alone with that guy."

"Fine then, just come with us. You can keep an eye on Zuko while carrying the baskets. Or we can both stay, and we'll all just go without supper tonight."

The Water Tribe boy hesitated a moment before grumbling, "Fine".

They began to head out, but were stopped when Iroh called out, "Ah, before you go, we need to come up with a suitable alias for my nephew. We can't very well go around calling him 'Prince Zuko' now can we?"

"I guess you're right," Aang said. "Us not staying in town would be pointless if we gave it away while we were there."

Rubbing his chin, Sokka said, "Hmm…I guess he could pass as a polar-dog. It's not like anyone from the Earth Kingdom has ever seen one".

Katara brightened. "We could call him 'Yuki'!" At the other's questioning stares, she said, "You know, 'cause he's the same color as snow?"

"That is a wonderful idea," Iroh told her with a smile. "Now all we need is a good back story…"

It only took a few minutes to come up with a believable story, then they were off to the village.

About a mile into the trip, Katara noticed something odd about the Wolf. He seemed to be walking a bit stiffly, as if he were trying not to jar an injury.

"Zuko?" she asked.

A flick of the ear was his only response.

"Are you in pain?"

Several minutes passed where she didn't think she would get an answer, then, "I think one of my ribs is broken…"

"Do you want me to heal it?"

"I'm fine."

"…But what if Azula attacks again?"

Zuko stopped, forcing the others to come to a halt as well. "Make it quick," he told her, looking away.

Katara found the broken bone easily. She honestly couldn't believe he was able to stand, let alone walk. The rib was snapped completely in two; it was a miracle it hadn't punctured anything. Her hands coated in glowing blue water, she closed her eyes and brought the bones together. She wasn't skilled enough to heal it completely, but she managed to reduce it to a small fracture. It would still hurt, but not nearly as bad as before. If he took it easy for a while, Zuko would be back to fighting off his crazy sister in no time.

"…Thank you," the prince said once she was finished. He ignored Sokka's idiotic gaping and continued on.

No one said much after that. Even Sokka kept silent, though never taking his eyes off the Wolf. The others may seem to somewhat trust Zuko, but he wasn't taking any chances in case the Firebender tried anything funny. Okay, so maybe he wasn't actually a bender at all, but still.

They had no problem finding the town; Zuko's nose seemed to prove more useful than a map in situations like these. Which explained why he always appeared to know exactly where they were all the time. He had apparently memorized their scents -or Aang's at least- back in the South Pole, back when their journey was just beginning, and used it to track them across the world. The thought was unsettling to say the least…if not a bit creepy.

Sokka was shaken from his musings as his sister called him over to the vegetable stand she was browsing. Zuko was sitting by her side, dutifully playing the role of loyal polar-dog while keeping a watchful eye out for anyone suspicious.

"Could you hold this for me, Sokka?" Katara asked, not waiting for an answer before shoving the whicker basket in his arms and putting various items that were definitely not meat inside.

The warrior scowled. "Ya know, Katara, not all of us are vegetarians. Some of us have no morals against eating meat and, dare I say it, actually _like_ it."

Katara was about to retort, but was cut off by a quick growl, Zuko's sign someone was approaching. They looked down at the Wolf, who had tensed considerably, hackles raised in warning, to the man sauntering up to them.

The man, a middle-aged, scruffy wanderer judging from his appearance, reached into a pouch around his waist upon reaching them.

Zuko bared his teeth and stepped in front of the Water Tribe teens, daring him to try anything. The siblings were surprised how well he played the part of overprotective pet.

Pulling his hand back into view, the man revealed a strip of cow-deer jerky. He offered it to Zuko, who eventually took it after sniffing it cautiously to make sure it wasn't poisoned. He placed a hand on the Wolf's head, scratching behind his right ear as Zuko ate the delicious piece of meat.

"There's a good boy," the wanderer cooed. Glancing at Katara and Sokka, he asked, "What's his name?"

"Yuki…" the Waterbender provided.

"He's beautiful," was the quiet reply. "But what kind of animal is he? I've never seen anything like him."

"Then you've obviously never been to the Water Tribes. He's our polar-dog," Sokka said, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't bother hiding the suspicion in his voice and written clearly on his face. "And who're you?"

With his free hand, the man scratched the back of his head. "Oh! My name is Liúlàng; I'm a trader. Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier."

Katara narrowed her eyes. "Well, _Liúlàng_, Yuki's not for sell."

"Oh, don't worry about that," he amended. "He's a fascinating creature, to be sure, but with that scar, no one would buy him. People don't like damaged goods." Liúlàng yelped as Zuko growled at him. Katara wondered how often the prince heard comments like that. "Besides, I don't think I could get him to leave his owners, now could I?"

Annoyed at this man, Zuko nipped at the pouch, where he could smell more cow-deer jerky, ordering Liúlàng to give him another strip. He'd clean this guy out of all of the tender meat before he left as payback for that "damaged goods" remark.

Liúlàng gave in easily at the Wolf's big soulful eyes and a little pathetic whimpering. Really, humans were so easy to manipulate. Well, most of them anyway.

"If you don't mind my asking," the man went on, as if the animal in front of him hadn't just conned him out of more food. "How did he get the scar?"

Sokka froze, eyes wide as he shared a glance with his sister. Seeing she had the same expression on her face, though her eyes were also a bit moist, he told him, "There was…a raid. The Fire Nation attacked our village. Yuki, he…we were just kids, and he protected us". Katara had tears streaming down her face by this point.

Wow. She wasn't a bad actor, Zuko mused, munching on his snack.

"Firebenders were about to kill us," she continued, oblivious to the Wolf's silent complement. "And Yuki j-jumped in front of the blast. We didn't think he was gonna make it," she sniffed.

Sokka wrapped an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. Zuko, now finished with the jerky, moved over and, with only a hint of reluctance, licked the Waterbender's hand, letting out a sad whine.

For her part, Katara barely flinched when the prince's wet tongue came in contact with the dangling fingers. She covered it up by running her hand across his head, smoothing back the fur atop his skull.

Liúlàng sighed. "Now I _really_ can't buy him. I can't very well take away such a loyal guardian from his family, now can I?"

Zuko visibly winced at the mention of family. This man was just begging to be eaten. Or at the very least, all of his cow-deer jerky eaten. This thought in mind, Zuko lunged for the bag.

Liúlàng was surprisingly quick. He leaped out of snapping range and laughed. "I guess your dog likes my food," he said. "Do you want some more, boy?"

The Wolf barked. On the outside, he was the picture of excitement; bouncing around with tail wagging. On the inside, however, Zuko was seething.

The man handed him another strip, jerking his hand back as the "polar-dog" snapped a little too close to his fingers. Then he gave a few to the Water Tribe siblings, much to Sokka's delight. Though Katara wondered just how much cow-deer jerky the man actually had in that pouch of his. It seemed never ending.

"Some for the road," he said smiling. Waving as he headed back down the road, Liúlàng called out, "Sorry for troubling you. Take care! And watch out for Firebenders!" With that, he was gone.

After an awkward pause, Katara moved a bit hesitantly to finish the shopping. The boys followed.

The prince growled as they waited for her, swallowing his last bite of meat. "Curse Uncle and his rule against eating people," he grumbled.

Sokka's eyes grew wide, almost comical, as he sputtered, "You eat people?"

Zuko shushed him, then replied, "Only once. Uncle banned me from ever doing it again".

"But…a person? As in a human being? Isn't that kinda like…cannibalism or something?"

"In case you haven't noticed," Zuko snapped, his annoyance only growing more, "I'm not exactly human. So no, it's not cannibalism".

"But your human for-"

"It's an illusion," he growled, cutting the warrior off. "I've never looked like that. It's all in your head."

"Okay, well, um…" Sokka tried to change the subject, still a bit disturbed. "You were, ya know, pretty good at getting that guy to give you stuff. I never thought I'd see you actually act like a polar-dog," he laughed.

Zuko scoffed. "Just because I'm not a dumb animal doesn't mean I don't know how to act like one. Many humans are willing to give up a lot to an old man and his weary pet. Just make them feel sorry for you, and they'll give you anything."

"…That's how you guys survived out here? Wow…"

Silence settled over them for a few minutes as they watched the Waterbender weave her way through the street. Then, as if a sudden realization had hit him, Sokka blurted out, "What did Aang mean when he said he felt your Dao on his neck?"

Zuko eyed him warily, then finally sighed. "It was the only way to get him out of Zhao's fortress." Before the other boy could ask any more, he said, "Just ask the Avatar. You'll actually believe the story if he tells you…maybe. Anyway, it looks like she's finished".

Sokka looked up to see his sister coming over, the second basket full. "Did you get any meat?"

"You know that buying meat is pointless, Sokka," Katara told him as they headed back to the campsite. "We would only be able to get enough for one meal. Anything else would spoil on the trip. We can't waste money on something that we won't be able to use."

They walked back in relative silence, with only the occasional grumble from the Water Tribe boy. About a quarter of a mile away from the others, Zuko suddenly shot forward into the trees. He gave no word as to what he was doing; only sprinted through the thick foliage, nose twitching as he sniffed the air.

Sharing a glance, Sokka handed his basket off to Katara before taking off after the Wolf. He cringed as an earsplitting screeched filled the forest, but continued running. The warrior did pull out his boomerang though, just in case.

What he saw however, as he broke through into a small clearing was not what he was expecting. Standing there, blood dripping off his jaws and staining his fur, was Zuko. Beneath him, with a hole in its neck, was a wild boar-fox.

"You…what are you doing?"

The prince shot him an annoyed gaze. "You said you wanted meat. Here it is." He licked some of the blood off his lips, then bent down and gripped the back of the animal's neck in his mouth. Zuko dragged it back the way they had come, saying, "You coming or what?" back to the gapping Sokka.

Katara was surprised when she saw them, but seemed pleased enough. She thanked Zuko, then force her brother to help her clean the animal. Things wouldn't go well if they skinned and gutted it in front of Aang. Between her water, and Sokka's boomerang, they soon had several large chunks of meat ready to be cooked. Sokka was so happy, he didn't even mind getting Boomerang dirty if it meant he would get to eat meat. Not even the fact that he had Zuko, Wolf of Ookami and Prince of the Fire Nation to thank for it.

The Waterbender helped get the blood off of Zuko's fur, lest he cause the Avatar to have a heart attack, and together they headed back to camp for a feast like the teens hadn't had in ages.

**A/N: Two chapters in one week? Yup! That's because I won't be able to upload a chapter next week, seeing as my sister is having surgery on Monday -which is also my 20****th**** birthday! :D- and I will be staying with her the entire week to help her out with her kids. So, here you go. :3**

**This shopping scene is actually what started my whole Wolf!Zuko idea, and it just escalated from there. Not a whole lot happens in this chapter, but I assure you, there are some important things here that will come up in later chapters. Also, an explanation of how Zuko was the Blue Spirit in this one. Basically, even though Aang felt the Dao swords, they weren't really there, it was all in his head. It's a part of Zuko's super duper spell that baffles his real mother. ;3**

**As always, reviews are loved!**

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to FirePony16, who has been giving me some **_**great**_** ideas for Balance and has been just an overall amazing person to talk to! Virtual cookies for you! :D**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: I was hoping to get this posted by Sunday evening, but that didn't happen on account of the recent tornado in Joplin, MO. My sister who just had surgery lives there, and she and her husband and kids lost their house and most of their possessions in the storm. Thankfully all my friends and family who live there are safe (I live in another town near there, and was in the tornado shelter when it hit) but the damage is absolutely horrible. Not only did they lose their house, but the preschool/church my sister works at has only the cross/steeple left of it, and the school my nieces attend was destroyed. So far there have been at least 116 people killed in this storm with several still missing and thousands are homeless or jobless as it has leveled the main road with all the businesses and it has destroyed one of only two hospitals in the entire area. Please, **_**please**_** keep the people of Joplin in your prayers.**

**I think I'm still in a state of shock over all of this, so hopefully my latest chapters are up to par with the rest of my work. **

Wolf of Fire

Chapter 3

If it weren't for fear of a tiny fist colliding with his still healing ribs, Zuko would say that Toph was his hero. After months of being thoroughly humiliated by the Avatar, watching him get pummeled by a small, blind Earhtbending girl was pretty high up there on the list of "Greatest Moments of Zuko's Life" –not that that list was very long. Was he still bitter? You bet.

Sure, he was grateful that they had saved Iroh, Spirits knew he couldn't have done anything, but that didn't mean he was going to cuddle up for teatime and share Fire Nation fairytales with them around the campfire. No way in the Spirit World was that happening.

So, he settled himself down on a boulder out of harm's way in the canyon they had recently set up camp in and watched the beat down. If you could call it that. Every time Toph threw a chunk of Earth at her student, he would jump out of the way. So far, he hadn't even been able to move a pebble either. Aang's first attempt at Earthbending had shot him backwards, straight into Appa's side with a blast of air.

Sokka, who had been sitting on a nearby rock in his sleeping bag, hollered out, "Rock beats Airbender!"

Zuko couldn't help snorting at this. He had been thinking along the same lines, the Water Tribesman had just beaten him to it. Though he wouldn't have squawked it out like Sokka had.

Speaking of the Idiot, where had he run off to?

Glancing around the canyon, he saw Toph and Aang still at it with their rocks, and Iroh and Katara back at the campsite. No sign of Sokka.

Making up his mind, Zuko left his spot on the boulder and headed over to where the Waterbender sat stitching her brother's pants. He was getting tired of watching the Avatar repeat the same mistake over and over again anyway.

He didn't say anything to Katara as he passed. Her cheerfulness toward him since finding out his origins had seemed…false to the prince, and it was really getting annoying.

It wasn't hard to find Sokka's sleeping bag; the thing reeked of smelly teenage boy. Zuko didn't even need to get near it to get the scent off of it, thank Agni. Once he found the trail, he was off without a word to the other two, who were looking at him curiously.

When he finally found him, Zuko couldn't suppress the bark of laughter that escaped his mouth. Sokka was buried up to his chin in the ground with a baby moose-lion perched atop his tousled hair. His boomerang was mere inches out of reach of fingers jutting up from the hole.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked him, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice.

"Zuko!" Sokka screeched. "Thank Yue someone finally found me. Help me out of here, would ya?"

"…You realize I don't have opposable thumbs, right?"

Sokka faltered a moment before saying, "You have teeth, don't you? Pull me out!" Then almost as an afterthought, "Just don't bite me!"

Zuko rolled his eyes and made his way over to the fallen boy. "So…who's your friend?"

"He's not my friend! He's a demon disguised as cute, tasty meat!"

"Hmm, well this 'demon' needs to move." He stepped in front of Sokka's face, nudging the moose-lion with his nose. "Get up, little one. It's time to go home."

The baby lifted its head and yawned. It took a long look at the Wolf before hopping off Sokka's head and heading back into the bushes where it came from.

The Water Tribe teen stared at him, wide-eyed. "Wow, Zuko. I never would have taken you for the 'nice to cute and cuddly creatures' kind of guy. You seem more of the 'growl and disembowel' type. And how'd you get him to listen to you? I've been trying to get him to do what I told him to for a while now…Wait, don't tell me Wolves can talk to animals too?"

Zuko stepped back so he could see him better. "No. We can understand the feelings they're trying to get across and vise-versa, but as for actually talking, no. And you've obviously never seen a full grown saber-toothed moose-lion. You don't aggravate them…ever."

"Oh, and you have?"

"…I've read about them…now hold still, or I really will bite you." He moved around to Sokka's back, clamping the back of the boy's shirt in his teeth. Zuko inwardly smiled as the fabric gathered around tan throat as he pulled, choking Sokka. Finally he let go when the boy's sputtering got annoying. He hadn't budged so much as an inch out of the hole.

"You need an Earthbender," Zuko stated, turning to leave.

"Wait! You can't just leave me here! What if Foo Foo Cuddlypoops comes back? With friends!"

"Foo Foo…? Don't worry, most predators don't like the taste of Idiot, believe me."

"Hey!" Sokka screeched. "I swear, Zuko, if you leave and I'm eaten, I will haunt you to the grave!"

Zuko sighed. "Fine. But how are you expecting anyone else to even find you out here?"

Sokka thought about it a moment. "Do you have some way to contact someone from a long distance? You seem to be able to do everything else."

"I do…but it's only for emergencies."

"This is an emergency!"

"Fine, just stop yelling. You're giving me a headache." With that, Zuko walked to the nearest canyon wall and began hopping from cliff to cliff until he was a good ways up, leaving a gaping Sokka behind. Once he was satisfied with the distance he'd traveled, Zuko threw his head back and let out a howl. The sound seemed to vibrate within the canyon, the very air around them humming.

He knew his uncle had heard it, but unfortunately, the howl also caught the attention of someone else. A loud roar came from within the trees, causing the birds, already agitated from Zuko's howl, to scatter in all directions. He looked down to see the reason he had been so wary of howling in the first place.

Coming out of the bushes was the mother moose-lion, most likely hungry, and obviously angry.

Before he could do anything, however, Aang skidded to a halt in front of the terrified teen in the ground. "Sokka! Are you okay? We heard Zuko, and Iroh said something was wrong." Seeing his predicament, the Avatar gasped, then bent down and pulled on Sokka's arms.

Sokka grunted. "Stop, stop! You're gonna pull my fingers off and I don't think the rest of me is coming! "

"Hmm… I bet I can Airbend you out of here," Aang said, scratching the back of his head. He raised his arms, then slammed them down, causing a huge gust of air to erupt from the hole that sent dust flying. When the dust cleared, Sokka was still trapped. His boomerang, which had been blown into the air, came down and hit him in the head, flattening his new Mohawk.

"Seriously Aang, I know you're new at it, but I could use a little Earthbending here. How 'bout it?"

The Avatar looked to the ground sadly. "I can't. I can't do it."

"Then go get someone who can," Zuko said from behind, causing Aang to jump. "Hurry. We don't have time for you to stare at me like that; Sokka's meat demon brought a friend."

No one got a chance to say any more as the moose-lion let out another roar, beginning her charge toward the trio. The Wolf leaped over Sokka's head and ran toward her, growling in warning. He wasn't exactly sure why he felt compelled to save him, perhaps as payment for saving Uncle, but whatever the reason, he couldn't just let him die. Even idiots didn't deserve death by moose-lion.

As he neared, the mother snapped her giant fangs at Zuko, inches from taking his head off. He leaped out of the way and landed on her back, sinking his own fangs into the tender skin behind her antlers. She roared in pain and bucked in an attempt to throw him off. Zuko tightened his grip and dug his claws into the moose-lion's sides, trying his hardest not to get thrown off.

Somewhere in the background, he heard Aang's nervous voice. "Hey there…we found your cub!" He smiled and raised the baby, who had apparently come back to pick on Sokka some more, into the air. The mother growled, rattling Zuko's bones as he clung to her. Aang put the baby on the ground, watching as it ran to its mother and passed her into the bushes, squealing. "See? We have no problem with you! We're friendly. Well…most us are…"

The moose-lion roared and shook her head. Zuko lost his grip at the sudden movement and was flung to the side, landing a short distance from the other boys. She glared at them with pure hatred in her eyes.

"Aang, this is bad! You gotta get me outta here!" Sokka yelled frantically, squirming to no avail. "Zuko, do something!"

The Wolf tensed as she charged again, preparing to clamp onto her once more. He was surprised to see her feet leave the ground as she neared them. A quick glance toward the others showed Aang had Airbended the moose-lion over them. She landed on the other side and turned back to them just as quickly with a snarl.

"This is really bad!" Sokka yelled, any bravery that he may have felt before gone. "Please, Aang! You have to Earthbend me out, there's no other way!"

Aang stomped a foot, doing an uppercut move, then aimed both hands toward the sky in a basic bending move. Sokka didn't budge. "I'm sorry, Sokka…"

"Out of the way!" Zuko yelled as the beast charged at the Water Tribe boy again. He skidded under her jaws and bit into her leg. She turned and snapped at him, but he darted underneath of her. He let out a pained growl as one of her fangs grazed his hindquarters as he rushed passed her.

The moose-lion charged toward the vulnerable Sokka again and the Avatar jumped in front of him, determination on his face. He shoved his hands forward, sending a strong gust of air at the animal, blowing her back. She slowly stood up, shaking her head from the fall. After shooting Aang and Zuko, who had limped up beside the pair, a glare, the moose-lion accepted defeat and took off into the bushes.

As the dust cleared, they heard a slow clapping coming from a nearby rock.

"I was wondering when you were going to show yourself," Zuko grumbled.

"Where's the fun in that, Fluffy?" Toph asked. "Besides, I was enjoying the show."

"What, you were there the whole time?" Aang had a look of pure surprise on his face. "And Zuko knew about it?"

"Pretty much," she confirmed. "And Fluffy's got good senses –not as good as mine but, still. Of course he noticed me."

Zuko sighed, taking the weight off of his injured leg. He had finally given up on getting Toph to stop calling him that ridiculous name; the girl was as stubborn as the element she commanded.

Aang was not pleased to hear this. Pointing an accusing finger at the Earthbender, he yelled, "Why didn't you do something? Sokka was in trouble! I was in trouble! _Zuko_ was in trouble! You could've gotten Sokka out and helped us get away!"

"I guess it just didn't occur to me." She tossed a nut down on the rock next to her and pulled out a familiar staff from seemingly out of nowhere. Just as Toph brought it down to smash the nut, Aang caught it, glaring at the girl.

"Enough! I want my staff back!" He jerked it from her grasp, backing out of her reach.

Toph abruptly stood and hopped in front of Aang. "Do it now," she said.

"What?"

"Earthbend, Twinkletoes. You just stood your ground against a crazy beast, and even more impressive, you stood your ground against me. You've got the stuff."

"But-"

"Do it!"

Aang glanced at her, confusion clearly on his face, then stomped down and shoved his fist forward, causing a large rock to shoot off and crash into a ridge.

"You did it!" Toph exclaimed. "You're an Earthbender!"

"I hate to break up this touching moment," Zuko interrupted before the Avatar could speak. "But can someone get the Idiot out of the ground so we can go?" He winced as he shifted his leg.

"Of course!" Aang declared, walking over to Sokka, who was currently glaring daggers at the Wolf for the insult.

Toph held a hand out to stop him before he could attempt to bend. "Actually, you should probably let me do that. You're still a little new to this. You might accidentally crush him."

"Yeah, no crushing please," Sokka squeaked.

She walked up to Sokka, lifted her left foot, then stomped down. The boy popped out of the hole and Toph grabbed his hair, dragging him out as she walked away.

The Water Tribe boy lifted a weary hand as he was plopped onto the ground. "Thanks…Toph…"

Aang helped him to his feet, and together they made their way back to the campsite.

WOLF OF FIRE

Later that night, Katara was awoken by the sound of howling off in the distance. It was a beautiful, yet almost sad sound as it echoed throughout the canyon. Gazing up to the sky, she saw Yue shining fully, casting her light down on all of them below. As she remembered the story Iroh told them a couple nights ago and the tales she heard growing up, it all made sense to her. It was Zuko that was howling. A quick glace around the slumbering figures around the camp confirmed her suspicions.

As quietly as possible, Katara made her way towards the sound. She was thankful the canyon wasn't very deep as she found a path that allowed her safe access to the top of the walls surrounding it. There, sitting amongst a cluster of small boulders not too far off, was Zuko. His white fur seemed to glow in the light of the full moon. His eyes, looking like two small suns, were a huge contrast to the bluish shine of his coat.

The Waterbender tried her hardest not to be spotted, but it was to no avail. She was startled as those bright orbs were turned on her.

"I'm sorry," Zuko told her quietly. "Did I wake you?"

Katara stumbled closer, saying, "N-no…you didn't. I…It's a full moon, so I can't sleep very well anyway".

The Wolf hummed in thought. "You too, huh?" A pause, then, "You wanna sit down?"

"S-sure." She sat on a nearby boulder, fidgeting nervously. She wasn't scared of him; he had already proved that he wasn't intending to hurt them, not as long as they were helping his uncle. This wasn't why the girl was feeling nervous. It was something else entirely, and it had been eating away at her for the past week. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and blurted out, "I'm sorry!"

Zuko looked at her, stunned. "For what?"

"I…well, for what my people did to yours…"

"Oh…" was all he could manage to say.

"It's just that…for so long, when I imagined the face of the enemy, it was _your_ face that I saw…at least, your human face. But when I found out about, you know, you being a Wolf, I guess it threw a huge water whip into everything I thought I knew."

Zuko cocked his head to the side in confusion. "How so?"

"I mean, for so long everything was black and white; the Fire Nation were the bad guys; everyone else was the good guys. But…you're not even Fire Nation –I know you say you are, but your not Fire Nation by blood," Katara said, cutting off his angered interruption. "It's just that, I grew up hearing stories about the Wolves from my Gran Gran. She told me how my people hunted them down and killed them into extinction. I've always thought it was such a cruel thing to do; they were trying to survive just like we were. I…I never thought I would actually have the chance to meet one; never thought that they were even still alive. The Water Tribes supposedly killed them just like the Fire Nation killed the Air Nomads. Now that I think about it, it doesn't make us much better from them, does it? Maybe…maybe they were just trying to survive too…"

"You're wrong," Zuko told her, voice firm, though he held his gaze on the moon. "My great-grandfather didn't start this war to survive. He wanted to share the greatness of the Fire Nation with the rest of the world; share in our prosperity. He may have started out with good intentions, but starting a war in the first place was the wrong way to go about it."

"So you don't like the war, Zuko?"

He glared at her. "Of course I don't. If there wasn't a war, I wouldn't have had to leave home in the first place."

"If you hate the war so much, then why try to capture Aang? Why get rid of the world's only hope for the war to end?" Katara asked.

Zuko sighed, staring back at the moon. "What choice do I have?" He asked her quietly. "My father's the leader of my pack."

A silence stretched over them after that. Katara reclined on her rock as Zuko settled down on the ground, resting his head on his paws. They sat gazing at the night sky until finally the Wolf spoke up.

"I never thanked you…for healing my leg."

"It's no problem." She paused, then, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Zuko hummed his consent.

"Why do you howl at the full moon? I've heard stories, but they're all different. No one seems to know."

Lifting his head, Zuko answered, "It's just…something we do; we don't really think about it, it's just part of our instincts. I guess it's our way of mourning those we've lost and thanking the Moon Spirit for her part in granting us the first White One."

"White One?" This was something Katara hadn't heard about before.

"Mm, white Wolves said to be destined for greatness."

"So then you're…?"

"Yeah," he finished, laying his head back down. "I'm the third one to be born in the past five hundred years. It's why Akarra gave me to my mom. Apparently Ookami and Agni have something planned for me…at least, that's what my mothers told me."

"…I see," Katara said. She left it at that. It would still be a while until she got over her uneasiness. Having your beliefs ripped out from under you and turned upside down does that to a person. Her guilt over what her people had done to Zuko's ancestors hadn't completely left, but still, she felt better after getting that off of her chest.

And maybe, just maybe, she could get over it for good someday. Until then, she would hang onto it, and use it as motivation to keep moving forward. So that never again would a people have to suffer like that of Aang's or Zuko's. Katara of the Southern Water Tribe would fight and do her part, so that one-day, that desire became a reality. No matter what.

**A/N: A big thank you to Lord Kamui for inspiring the last scene. I hope it answered your question. And don't worry, I fully intend on working in the other things you mentioned. Your questions really helped a lot on the finer details of this story. So again, thank you! :D**

**Reviews are loved!**


	5. Chapter 4

Wolf of Fire

Chapter 4

"So, where exactly are you guys headed?" Sokka asked the two princes as they gathered around the map sprawled on Appa's saddle.

"Here," Iroh answered, pointing at a blue spot in the Earth Kingdom. Thanks to daily healing sessions with Katara, the old general was finally back on his feet. He was still a bit sore from taking a lightning bolt to the chest, but not so much as to hinder his movements anymore, so it was time to move on. Not that he didn't enjoy the rest he got and the young people's company, he just wished it was under better circumstances.

The Waterbender leaned over her brother's shoulder. "'The Misty Palms Oasis'…that sounds refreshing."

"Oh yeah, I've been there," Aang called back to her from the head of the bison. "It's a pristine natural ice spring, and I usually don't use the word pristine. It's one of nature's wonders."

Iroh gave him a sad smile. "Things may have changed a bit since your last visit. This war has affected many wonderful places throughout the world."

"Yeah, but the Oasis is in the middle of the desert," Aang protested weakly. "Surely the Fire Nation hasn't reached all the way out here."

The old general gave him a sad smile. "You would be surprised how far my brother's power reaches to."

There was a slight pause before Sokka blurted out, "Wait a minute. You're the Fire Lord's _brother_?"

Zuko scoffed from across the saddle. "Of course he is. What on Earth would make you think he wasn't?"

"Well, maybe the fact that Iroh isn't completely insane?" the Water Tribesman mumbled. He flinched when the Wolf growled at him.

"My father isn't insane," Zuko defended. "And how he and Uncle act has nothing to do with whether or not they're related. Just look at you and the Waterbender."

"I have a name, you know; it's Katara," she snapped, before adding, "Zuko does have a point though, Sokka. We're complete opposites."

Iroh smiled. "Ah, but that is what makes siblings so wonderful. Despite having nothing in common, most still love each other, despite the many arguments they get in to."

Aang turned from his spot on Appa's head to face the others. "So even after all the bad things Fire Lord Ozai has done, you still love him?"

"Yes. No matter what, Ozai will always be my little brother, whom I love very much."

"What about Fluffy's sister?" Toph asked, digging a pinky in her ear.

"Notice Uncle said _most_ siblings love each other," Zuko answered.

"So you don't love her?" the Avatar asked.

The Wolf hesitated. "It's not that I don't love her; we used to be really close. She just…doesn't love me, I guess."

"That's horrible," Katara said quietly. She couldn't begin to fathom how it would feel to have the people she grew up with, her own family to not care about her. The Water Tribes were about family and looking out for one another, and the knowledge that someone who originated from her home country didn't have the love she did from their own father and sibling broke her heart. "I'm so sorry, Zuko," she told him.

He growled at the Waterbender. "I don't need your pity." Just because they had that conversation the night of the full moon didn't mean he wanted the girl to be all sentimental about every little misfortune in his life. They may have gotten along then, but she was still a Water Tribe peasant, and he was a Fire Nation prince. Why would he need the pity of someone so lowly?

Aang coughed, feeling as if he were choking on the tension in the air. "Um, Iroh, sir," he started, trying to change the subject. The boy fidgeted as he continued. "I was wondering…would you maybe, possibly be able to, um…t-teach me Firebending?"

The old man smiled. "I would be honored to help you, Avatar Aang." The Airbender's huge grin faded as Iroh said, "However, now is not the time. You have only just begun learning Earthbending, and there are things that must be done before you can start on Fire".

"Uncle, you can't seriously be considering helping them!"

"Do not worry, Prince Zuko, I will not be teaching him immediately. It will still be a while before he is ready."

"That doesn't matter! You're still planning on betraying the Fire Nation!"

"Nephew," the general sighed. "Lending ones aid to the one destined to end this war is not betraying the Fire Nation. Isn't it better to speed up the pace and bring back peace quickly than to prolong the suffering?"

Sokka gave him a skeptical look. "Hold on a minute. You just said you wanted Aang to wait before you taught him Firebending. Isn't that just prolonging the suffering too?"

"Ah, but there is a difference between keeping this war going, and waiting for the opportune moment to strike."

"Neutral Jing," Aang murmured.

"Exactly, my dear boy." Iroh winked at him.

Before anyone could say any more, Katara asked, "Is that it?" She was pointing off into the distance, where they could just make out a few buildings surrounding a small clump of melting ice.

"Whoa…that's definitely not the same place I remember…"

WOLF OF FIRE

After climbing off of Appa, the group made their way through the gates of the Misty Palms Oasis. "Refreshing" was not an adequate description of this particular resort. "Old and decrepit" seemed to fit better. Everything was run down and falling apart; even the people looked as if they had seen better days. There were a lot of shady looking characters here as well.

The members of the gAang jumped as an old sign hanging overhead fell to the ground, shattering on impact. To say they were nervous about the shifty eyes glancing their way would be an understatement.

Making their way over to what appeared to be some sort of restaurant/bar, they past the evaporating ice spring. In its glory days, the ice stood tall and proud in the hot desert. Now however, it was a mere few feet tall with water surrounding it from its slow melt. They entered the building moments later and paused in the entrance.

"I'm afraid this is where we part ways," Iroh told the children. Bowing, he said, "Thank you for all you have done for my nephew and I. We are in your debt". He held up a hand to stop their protests. "Until we meet again, take care, Avatar Aang."

After saying their -rather annoying, in Zuko's opinion- goodbyes, the group of kids moved over to a bartender who was making some fruit drink, leaving the two princes alone.

Looking around, Zuko said, "No one here is going to help us. These people look like filthy wanderers".

"So do we," Iroh pointed out. After taking a quick glance around the room, he pointed to an old bald man sitting in the corner at a Pai Sho table. "Ah, this is interesting. I think I've found our friend."

"You brought us here to gamble on Pai Sho?" asked the Wolf incredulously.

"I don't think this is a gamble." With that, Iroh headed over to the table, forcing Zuko to follow, albeit reluctantly. Stepping up to the chair across from the old man, the general asked, "May I have this game?"

The bald man looked up at him, then motioned for him to sit. As Iroh obliged, he said, "The guest has the first move". Picking up the lotus tile, Iroh placed it in the middle of the board. "I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways."

"Those who do can always find a friend," the old prince said with a smile.

"Then let us play."

As Zuko settled down next to the table, he watched as the two men placed tiles on the board in rapid succession. When their hands finally stilled, the form of a lotus blossom covered the surface, the lotus tile sitting proudly in the center.

"Welcome brother," the old man said. "The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets."

The Wolf sidled over to his uncle, whispering, "What are you old gasbags talking about?"

"I always tried to tell you Pai Sho is more than just a game," Iroh replied, winking at his nephew.

The old man stood and motioned for them to follow him out of the building. Iroh waved to the Avatar's group, who were currently talking over a map with some scholar-looking guy, as they exited the building. They were led to a small ostrich-horse-drawn cart and ushered into it.

After traveling for a couple of hours in the uncomfortable cart, with Zuko forced to listen to the blabbering of two old men, they arrived at a small village near the edge of the desert. As they entered a small building that appeared to be a flower shop, the old Pai Sho player made sure no one was watching them before shutting the door.

Turning to the two princes, he said, "It is an honor to welcome such a high-ranking member of the Order of the White Lotus. Being a Grand Master, you must know so many secrets".

Zuko cocked his head to the side, whispering, "Now that you played Pai Sho, are you going to do some flower arranging, or is this club of yours going to offer some real help?"

"You needn't worry about whispering around this man, Prince Zuko. He already knows of your situation," Iroh told him. Then to the other man, "You must forgive my nephew. He is not an initiate, and has little appreciation for the cryptic arts".

"How does he know about what I am?" the Wolf asked, anger lacing his voice.

"I told him, of course!"

The Pai Sho player walked over to a door in the back of the shop and knocked. Seconds later, a small window opened, revealing the face of another man.

"Who knocks at the guarded gate?" he asked in a deep voice.

Iroh stepped forward. "One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries."

The door opened and the man stepped aside for the others to enter. Zuko made to follow them, but just as he neared the doorway, it shut in his face. He let out a growl as Uncle opened the window, peering down at him.

"I'm afraid it's members only. Wait out here."

The Wolf huffed, then headed over to a nearby plant, sniff it, sneezed, and after shaking his fur of the pollen his sneeze had caused to attach to him, laid down to wait for the old geezers to finish with whatever it was they were doing.

Zuko hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep until he heard the sound of the door opening again. He jumped up in a defensive stance, ready for a fight. He sighed when he saw Iroh stepping out. "What's going on?" he asked. "Is the club meeting over?"

"Everything is taken care of," replied the old man. "We're heading to Ba Sing Se."

"Ba Sing Se? Why would we go to the Earth Kingdom capital?"

The Pai Sho player stepped up behind Iroh, saying, "The city is filled with refugees. No one will notice two more".

"We can hide in plain sight there, something you're very good at," the general said with a wink. "And it's the safest place in the world from the Fire Nation. Even I couldn't break through to the city."

Just then, the front door opened and a tall man entered the flower shop. "I have the passports for our guests," he informed. "And the collar is ready, sir."

"Collar?" Zuko asked, not liking where this was headed.

Taking the item from the man, Iroh answered, "I am afraid pets are not allowed in the lower rings of the city without some sort of identification on them".

"So you expect me to wear a collar? And what's with that color?"

"I think it suits you, nephew." He held it up for Zuko to get a better look.

The collar was made of leather, dyed a dark royal blue. It was held together by a silver buckle, and at its front, it held a light blue pendant carved from a moonstone from the Northern Water Tribe. Engraved in the stone was the word, "Yuki". In all, it was a fine piece of craftsmanship, but the Wolf was not pleased in the slightest.

"Uncle, I'm not wearing that."

"I'm sorry, young man," the bald man said, "but if you wish to stay in Ba Sing Se, then you have no choice".

"I _don't_ wish to stay there," he grumbled, but relented nonetheless. Zuko knew with Azula chasing them, their options were limited drastically. "Fine," he sighed. "But if you treat me like a stupid dog when we're not in public, I'm biting you, Uncle."

"I would never dream of it, my nephew."

With that, the collar was secured around the Wolf's neck and, after taking some supplies and many thanks from Iroh, the two were soon on their way to the great city of Ba Sing Se.

WOLF OF FIRE

The trip to the ferries that would take them across the large body of water separating them from the capital of the Earth Kingdom was fairly uneventful, and before long, the two Fire Nation princes were aboard one of the boats that would take them to their new lives as refugees.

They sat on the main deck next to the railing, Iroh eating a bowl of…something, and Zuko lounging by his side. Both had agreed it would be better for the Wolf to stay in his true form, since all the wanted posters were for two humans traveling together, and it had been increasingly painful for Zuko to use his illusion as the days went by.

"How can you eat that?" the Wolf mumbled quietly so as to not alert nearby passengers to a talking "dog".

"It is actually not that bad once you get used to it," replied Uncle with a shrug.

Zuko hummed noncommittally as he laid his head on his paws. He had gotten over his surprise at the things his uncle could eat a long time ago.

A man approached the pair, though the youngest prince didn't think much of it. That is, until he jabbed a foot into Iroh's crossed legs.

"Hey, old man," he sneered. He pointed to a scrawny looking man with long hair almost greasy enough to rival his own. "My friend over there could use another bowl of food. He's sick, you see, and needs all the food he can get."

"I am sorry to hear that, young man," Iroh replied sincerely.

"Yeah? Why not show it by giving him yours? You've obviously had your fair share of food, so hand it over."

"I am sorry, but we are only allowed one bowl of food a day on this ship," the general answered, eyes narrowing. "I am afraid your friend will just have to make do with the food I can clearly see him eating right now."

"What did you say, you old fart?" The man reached forward and attempted to grab a handful of Iroh's shirt. His hand stopped short, however, as fangs snapped dangerously close to his arm.

Zuko was standing up by this point, hackles raised and growl loud in his throat. Uncle may have been driving him insane this whole trip with his cheerfulness, but the Wolf wasn't going to just stand back and let this _peasant_ steal from him. Whether it was disgusting, questionably edible food or not.

"I suggest you watch your pet, old man," the greasy man snarled. "Unless you both want to find yourselves sleeping with the fishes, before we dock in Ba Sing Se."

"Hey!" came a young voice from across the deck. The person neared to reveal a young man with scraggly brown hair that desperately needed to see a brush and a piece of straw stuck between their lips. A tall boy with a wide-brimmed hat, and another teen of questionable gender followed the teen. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Whadda ya think, you stupid boy? I'm scoring me some free food." With that, the man lunged forward to snatch the bowl from Iroh.

"Longshot."

Without a word, the tall boy pulled out a bow, strung an arrow, and released it before anyone could react. The arrow flew straight and true, piercing the man's outstretched sleeve and lodging his arm into the wooden railing beside him.

The scraggly teen moved forward, grabbing a fistful of dirty shirt and jerking the man to meet his eyes. "Listen you, I better not catch you tryin' to steal from helpless old men again, you hear me? I'll make sure Longshot doesn't aim so well next time," he sneered, releasing him with a shove.

He stumbled off to rejoin his friend, though not without sending a rude gesture to the teen, who happily returned it with a smirk.

"Thank you very much, young man," Iroh said. "May I ask the names of my saviors?"

Zuko groaned. Did Uncle really have to lay it on so thick? If these people knew this man was the great Dragon of the West, they'd laugh at the thought that he was a helpless old man who couldn't fend for himself.

"Name's Jet," straw-mouth answered, then pointing to the others, said, "The guy who just shot the arrow is Longshot, and this here is Smellerbee. And you are?"

"I am Mushi, and this is my polar-dog, Yuki," Iroh replied, stroking a hand across Zuko's head affectionately.

Jet arched an eyebrow, asking, "Polar-dog? Never heard of those before. He Water Tribe or something?"

The old general smiled. "Yes. He was a gift from some of my Water Tribe friends. They left him for me on their travels of the Earth Kingdom as protection on my trip to Ba Sing Se. Yuki is very good at fending off any bandits or soldiers who wish to cause trouble."

"Hmm," Jet hummed, glancing at his friends. "An animal that fights the Fire Nation," he missed the tensing in Zuko's muscles as he continued. "Sounds like my kind of pet!"

"Please, have a seat." Iroh waved a hand in front of him, smiling as the teens obliged. As he took another bite of his…whatever it was, the princes noticed three sets of eyes on them, one gaze in particular a bit stronger than the others.

Jet leaned forward to glance in the man's bowl, then stated, "I hear the Captain's eating like a king, while us refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"What sort of 'king' is he eating like?" Iroh asked, peering over the edge of his bowl.

"The fat, happy kind."

The old prince's mouth gaped open at this, drool running down the side of his chin. Zuko shot him a glare at his undignified behavior.

"You want to help us 'liberate' some food?" Jet asked.

"I wish I could," Iroh started, "but I am an old man. I do not think I will be of much help".

Feeling his stomach grumble at the thought of something that didn't make him want to retch at the smell of it, the Wolf stood up and walked over to the messy-haired teen. He nudged the boy's knee with his nose and let out a bark.

"It would seem Yuki would like to help you though," Iroh told them with a smirk.

"You're saying this dog can help us steal food?" the one called Smellerbee asked, incredulously.

"Oh, you would be surprised at just how sneaky he can be."

Jet seemed to think this over for a moment before a wicked smirk of his own spread across his face. "Let's do this."

Later that night, three of them moved across the upper deck, their only light being the moon in the sky. They paused at a staircase as a guard passed, lantern in hand. Once the man was out of sight, Zuko led the group consisting of himself, Jet, and Smellerbee up a flight of stairs and around a corner.

He was so thankful for his great sense of smell as he led them straight to the kitchen. The two humans peered in the window, then the trio slipped around back to the door. Zuko kept watch as Jet forced the lock open and he and Smellerbee burst into the room.

Using his hook swords, Jet swept several birds into a bag from their place on a wire on one of the walls. Across the room, Smellerbee loaded eight bowls of food into another bag, then secured it with a ribbon. Shouldering the bags, they returned to the doorway without a sound.

As they neared, Zuko let out a bark, signaling a guard was coming. The three rushed to the balcony edge, where a line-strung arrow shot from below, lodging itself into the railing. Securing the bundles to the line, the two humans slid them down the line to Longshot's waiting arms below, before following suit themselves.

The Wolf grabbed the arrow in his teeth while propping himself on the railing with his front paws and ripped it out of the wood, sending it back to the archer. Just as the guard rounded the corner, Zuko leaped off the ledge, landing near the three gaping teens. He merely walked past them, signaling they needed to move. Snapping out of their shock, they followed him back to the main deck, where Jet began passing out rations to awaiting passengers.

Longshot, Smellerbee, and Zuko made their way back to Iroh, who welcomed them back heartily.

"So, Smellerbee," the man started to fill in the awkward silence that had formed as they ate their food, "that's an unusual name for a young man".

"Maybe because I'm not a man; I'm a girl!" she snapped, sending him a glare before storming off.

"Oh, now I see! It's a beautiful name for a lovely girl!" Iroh attempted. Zuko rolled his eyes as he bit into his bird. Uncle was hopeless.

Without a word, Longshot rose to his feet and followed her. Now that he thought about it, Zuko hadn't heard him utter a word. Weird.

A few minutes later, Jet plopped down next to the princes, bowl in hand. "From what I heard," he said, "people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se. I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall."

"It is a magnificent sight," Iroh told him.

Jet looked surprised. "So you've been there before?"

"Once, when I was a different man."

"I've done some things in my past I'm not proud of," the teen told him, looking down into his bowl. "But that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se, for a new beginning; a second chance."

The general smiled. "That's very noble of you. I believe people can change their lives if they want to; I believe in second chances." He gave Zuko a knowing look.

Zuko hated that look. It meant Iroh knew something he didn't, and more often than not, he was right. He just hoped whatever it was didn't come back to bite him in the tail in Ba Sing Se. The Universe had a way of doing that to him. A lot.

**A/N: Haha, I apparently love giving Zuko lovely "accessories". First his saddle in Balance, and now a collar. It just happened, I don't even know how. I love it though. xD**

**Anyway, Jet makes his appearance in this one. :D And they leave the gAang. As for them, you can just assume that everything that happens to them is the same as it does in cannon. As for the peacefulness that happened while Zuko and Iroh left the bar, since they arrived with the Avatar's group, they get there earlier than they would have on their own, so Xin Fu and Master Yu are not there to notice them.**

**As always, reviews are loved! :D**


	6. Chapter 5

Wolf of Fire

Chapter 5

Zuko wanted to crawl in a hole and die somewhere. Never before in his life did he imagine he would wish to give up everything; his home, his honor, _anything_ to make this humiliation end. He was wrong.

The ferry had docked a few minutes ago, and the two Fire Nation princes wasted no time in making their way to the ticket gate to board the train to the inner wall of Ba Sing Se. The Earth Kingdom official that looked over their papers was a sour, heavy-set woman with a large hairy mole above her eyebrow. She didn't look impressed with what she saw.

"So, Mr.…Mushy," she started. Her voice matched her unpleasant face. "And his…polar-dog?" She glared at the pair, a bushy eyebrow raised. "Yuki, is it?"

Said "polar-dog" merely scratched at the collar around his neck with a back paw, but said nothing.

"It's pronounced Moo-shee," Iroh corrected.

The woman's glare hardened as she snapped, "You telling me how to do my job?"

Taking a step forward, the old general amended, "Uh, no, no, no. But may I just say that you are like a flower in bloom, your beauty intoxicating".

"You're pretty easy on the eyes yourself handsome." Making a cat-claw gesture, she added, "Raorrr. Welcome to Ba Sing Se". She stamped their papers and pushed them forward, out of the way.

With a grunt, Zuko turned on a back paw and stomped off, mumbling, "I'm gonna forget I saw that".

They trudged toward the debarkation point and moved to a nearby bench, waiting for the train to arrive. Iroh plopped on the seat, arms crossed, while Zuko sat at his feet, keeping a watchful eye on the passersby milling about the station. He spotted Jet and his Freedom Fighters nearby, talking amongst themselves, but paid them no mind.

Iroh perked up as he heard a peddler yell, "Get your hot tea here! Finest tea in Ba Sing Se!"

Waving an arm, the old man hollered back, "Oh! Jasmine, please." After the peddler poured tea into his cup, he delightedly took a sip, only to have his eyes widen in shock. He then spat the liquid out in disgust. "Blaugh! Ugh. Coldest tea in Ba Sing Se is more like it. What a disgrace!"

The Wolf just growled irritation, shaking his head slightly. Even after everything they had been through, Uncle was still Uncle.

A few meters away, Jet stood huddled with Smellerbee and Longshot, occasionally stealing glances at the old man and his pet.

"I think they would make good Freedom Fighters. They're just trying to find their way in the world, like us," the teen said around the straw in his mouth.

Smellerbee cocked an eyebrow at her leader. "You don't know anything about them, Jet. Besides, Mushi's old. We can't have an old man in the Freedom Fighters…or a dog."

Taking the straw out of his mouth, Jet smirked at her. "Dog or not, Yuki's got skills we could use. I mean, did you see him sneaking around on that ship?" He didn't give the girl a chance to answer as he added, "I've never seen an animal move like that!"

"And Mushi?"

"He's cool, for an old guy. We can't have Yuki without his owner."

The girl scowled. "I thought we were going straight now."

"We are," Jet shrugged. "And the new Freedom Fighters could use members like Yuki and Mushi. What do you think Longshot?"

"…" The tall boy shot him a meaningful look, not uttering a word.

"I can respect that."

Jet turned and focused his gaze on the seated Iroh, who was carefully enjoying the tea now rolling steam out of his cup. The scraggly teen suddenly bristled and his eyes opened wide in shock.

Feeling his stare, Zuko looked back toward Jet, who now wore a look of pure fury on his face. Jet turned and stormed off, dragging his friends behind him.

Turning back to his uncle, the Wolf snarled as he saw what the other boy's problem was. Lifting a front paw, Zuko brought it crashing down on Iroh's steaming cup.

"Hey!" Iroh squeaked, eyes wide.

Gritting his teeth, the young prince whispered, "What are you doing Firebending your tea? For a wise old man, that was a pretty stupid move."

"I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but," he sniffled, tears in his eyes as he gazed down at the puddle of tea on the floor, "that's so sad."

Using his back leg, Zuko kicked the cup, sending it rolling across the floor. "Jet _saw_ you, Uncle. He saw you with your stupid hot tea!"

"Nephew, it is not unnatural for tea to be hot," Iroh protested. His eyes never left the cup, which was now being knocked around by large Earth Kingdom feet.

"When it starts out cold it is!"

Finally returning his eyes to the Wolf, the general told him, "Relax, my nephew. If you worry all the time, you will eventually go bald. You're already shedding, you can't afford to lose any more hair".

He winked, causing Zuko to growl more. Yes, he definitely wanted to find that hole and die now.

"For the last time, I'm not shedding!"

WOLF OF FIRE

His first day in the city, and Zuko already wanted to leave. After traveling around the world for three years with Naval officers who definitely didn't shower enough, one would think the Wolf was used to the scent of stinky humans. Nothing could have prepared him for the stench that was the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se. It held thousands of refugees from all over the Earth Kingdom -and a couple from the Fire Nation- that smelled as if they hadn't bathed in weeks. It was nauseating.

That wasn't the only thing driving the prince insane. Even worse than the smell was a certain old man, who thought they needed to make their new apartment more "homey".

Said old man ran to catch up to Zuko, who was pushing his way through the crowd, trying to resist the urge to scream. In his arms was a vase full of orange flowers. The Wolf glared at them, wishing he could actually set them on fire.

Noticing the look on his nephew's face, Iroh said, "I just want our new place to look nice in case someone brings home a lady friend."

"What 'lady friend'," Zuko growled. "I've only met one other Wolf in my life. What makes you think one's just gonna suddenly show up here?"

"You never know," Iroh winked. "Just because you have not seen any others besides Miss Akarra, does not mean there are no more Wolves out there. Now come on, I may have found us some new jobs."

As they walked off to deposit their meager items in their new home, a teen stepped around the corner of a building, crunching the dirt under his boots.

"Look at him," Jet seethed. "A Firebender living right under everyone's noses."

"Jet, you saw a man with a hot cup of tea," protested Smellerbee. "It doesn't prove he's a Firebender. And what if he is, are we supposed to attack them? I thought we were starting over here, changing our ways."

"We are, when I get the evidence I need, I'll report them to the police and let them handle it. Okay?"

The girl sighed, sharing a look with her silent friend. This wasn't going to end well.

Jet followed the old man and his dog around the lower ring until they finally stopped at a teashop. He made his way to a window to listen to what was being said inside.

"I told you," came an agitated voice. "I don't allow pets in here."

"He will not get in the way, I assure you." This one was Mushi. "Yuki is very good at sensing danger. He will make a great watchdog. If anyone attempts to rob you, he will stop them before they can make it out of the shop!"

Peering into the window, Jet attempted to get a better look at the pair.

"I don't know," said the teashop owner. "He doesn't look like he could scare anyone off…"

The teen gripped the windowsill tighter as, at a go ahead from Mushi, the animal bared his fangs and snarled at the little old man in front of them, who jumped back in fright.

"Y-you got yourself a deal!" A pause then, "He is potty-trained, right?" At Mushi's affirmative and a snort from Yuki, the man exclaimed, "Great! Come to the back and I'll show you where you'll be working…he stays out here though. He looks like he's shedding". He yelped as the Wolf growled at him and practically ran into the back room.

Jet backed away from the window, checking over his shoulder to make sure no one had noticed him peering into the shop.

Everyone continued on their way, not giving two copper pieces about some arrogant teenager up to no good. Satisfied he was not in danger of being confronted by any curious bystanders, Jet turned back to the window.

Yuki was gone. He could still hear Mushi talking loudly in the back, but the dog was nowhere in sight. So intent was he in his search, he didn't even feel the presence behind him until they spoke, causing the Freedom Fighter to jump.

"Haven't you ever learned it's rude to spy on people?"

Jet whirled around to see a boy about his age with short, spiky black hair and blazing gold eyes. He wore normal green peasant clothes, but around his neck was a blue collar that looked several sizes too big for him. He couldn't read what the pendant said. The feature that stuck out the most however was the large scar covering a good portion of the young man's face.

"Who're you?" Jet asked, scowl scrunching his charming features.

The scarred teen spoke in a raspy voice, almost as if he were incredibly parched. "I think a better question would be: why are you following Mushi?" He crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes narrowed.

Jet moved his own arms to match the other boy's stance. "And how exactly do you know Mushi?"

Oh, Agni! Why hadn't he thought this through before confronting Jet? "I, uh," Zuko stuttered, "I live near the apartment he just moved to".

"Really? Because I didn't see you anywhere around there." Eyes narrowed in suspicion.

It was time to take a different approach. "You followed him home?" Zuko asked incredulously. "Are you planning on robbing an old man, or are you just some kind of sick freak?"

"W-what?" Jet screeched. He paused momentarily, then snarled, "Don't turn this around to make me seem like the bad guy. That guy's a Firebender!" He jutted a finger toward the window. "He's a monster, just like the rest of them!"

Zuko bristled as the "monster" comment, but then snorted. Glancing inside the shop, he said, "Does anything about him really scream 'monster'?"

The Freedom Fighter followed his gaze to see Mushi and the shop owner, whose name had been revealed to be Pao, had returned from the back room. The round old man was currently asking if there were any aprons in a larger size, as his would not wrap around his wide waist.

The prince took Jet's silence as a sign he had gotten his point across. As the familiar pain began flaring in his insides, Zuko decided it was time for him to return to Uncle's side. The old man would be wondering where he had run off to anyway.

"I better not catch you following him again, if you know what's good for you." With that final warning, Zuko turned and headed back down the alley. Once out of sight, he let his illusion fade, sighing as the burning pain left along with it. After shaking his fur -which seemed to almost be a magnet to all the dust in the air from the dirt roads- the Wolf headed back into the teashop.

He made his way through the back room, emerging into the front, where he settled down next to the counter to ease his sore muscles. Only one pair of eyes noticed his return. A flick of the ear and a yawn was his only response to Iroh's knowing smile.

Zuko hoped that his threat had worked. He really wasn't in the mood for a confrontation with the other teen, or anyone for that matter.

Unfortunately, he didn't know how stubborn Jet could be when it came to dealing with the Fire Nation. He would find out soon enough.

WOLF OF FIRE

As the days passed, the two princes were able to settle into a routine. That's not to say the youngest of the pair was particularly pleased with their current situation, but he was thankful for the relative lack of responsibility he had being the "guard dog" of Ba Sing Se's finest teashop. Boring as it may have been, it was kind of nice not to have to have the weight of "banished prince" and "capture the Avatar to regain your honor" on his shoulders.

As it was, Zuko left for work in the morning, six days a week with his uncle. Once there, he curled up out of the way near the counter and kept an eye out for anyone suspicious. So far, all the Wolf had encountered were multiple children who wanted to pet the shop's mascot.

Yes, Yuki the polar-dog had officially become the face of Pao's teashop…and Zuko absolutely hated it. He never particularly liked kids to begin with, and all the snot-nosed Earth Kingdom brats coming into the shop, climbing on him, trying to go for a ride when Uncle called him over, and attempting to feed him things he shuddered to think of their origins just solidified his dislike. Sure, he figured he would have pups of his own someday -that is if he ever found any more Wolves out there- but he thanked every Spirit he could think of that he would never have to raise one of those annoying two-legged beasts known as humans.

After the customers filed out and Zuko helped his uncle clean up as much as his physique would allow him, the pair would lock up shop and head back to the their tiny apartment.

This was where they could be found on this particular night. Iroh was standing in his usual spot by the small fire pit, brewing his tea, while the younger prince sat in the middle of the room, illusion in a meditative pose. He had discovered during his time among the Avatar's group that as long as he sat still and concentrated on casting his spell, he could keep it going for a while longer than the usual few minutes. He was facing the windows, which were open to allow a breeze to pass through the living room.

So involved were they with their individual tasks, they failed to notice the figure sitting one roof over, hiding behind a few garments on a clothes line.

Jet watched the two, eyes narrowed and teeth grinding against the piece of straw in his mouth. Where had that Scarface come from? He had follow Mushi and Yuki home from the teashop, and this guy had never entered through the door, and from his vantage point, he could see all the windows. They had been closed up until the old man opened them a few minutes after returning to the apartment. By that time, the other teen was already sitting on the floor, ignoring everything and everyone that tried to distract him.

Even when Mushi left to borrow some spark rocks from the neighbor -which caused Jet's eyebrow to twitch; why would a Firebender need something like that to stare a fire? – Scarface didn't move. Jet had been hoping that the old man would just Firebend, as he had stolen the spark rocks out of the apartment earlier that day, but no such luck.

It wasn't until the tea was brewed and poured into a cup and, oddly, a bowl that the teen even flinched.

"Would you like some tea, nephew?" Mushi asked, placing the bowl on the floor as he sat across from the young man.

That was Mushi's nephew? Then why was the old man traveling across the Earth Kingdom with no one else but a ninja-like polar-dog? Speaking of which, where was Yuki…?

Jet's eyes became saucers as, right as the black-haired relative replied with a grumbled, "No," his image flickered, only to be replaced by none other than Yuki.

"I'm sick of tea, Uncle," Yuki growled, causing the Freedom Fighter's jaw to drop.

Had that dog just talked? Its mouth hadn't moved, so maybe he was just hearing things…

"Sick of tea?" Mushi asked, the picture of shock at the statement and not the fact that his dog seemed to be having a _conversation_ with him. "That is like being sick of breathing!"

Yuki reached forward with a paw and shoved the bowl back to his…uncle? The liquid inside sloshed over the rim. "We've been working in a teashop all day," he growled, shaking his head. "I think the fumes have burned into my nostrils. All I can smell is _tea_. What if someone's watching us? I wouldn't be able to tell because of your stupid hot leaf juice!" He was standing by this point, sending glances around the room and out the window, causing Jet to press himself closer to the shingles beneath him to remain hidden.

"Relax, nephew. We are safe here," the old man reassured, placing a hand on the animal's back. "As long as we do not act suspicious, no one will be the wiser to our identities."

"You're right," Yuki sighed. Then almost as an afterthought, "Sorry about the tea, Uncle".

"It is quite all right, my nephew. Now, why don't you head to bed? You look exhausted."

As the "dog" got up and sauntered into the bedroom, Jet quietly got up and climbed down off the other side of the roof. He hadn't proved that Mushi was a Firebender -he was still positive he wasn't wrong though- but he learned an even bigger secret.

Ba Sing Se's favorite pet was a whole lot more than what he appeared. And worse, that monster was _Fire Nation_.

WOLF OF FIRE

"This is the best tea in the city!" cried an Earth Kingdom officer as he sipped at Iroh's special blend.

The old general beamed. "The secret ingredient is love." He waved a hand through the steam, ignoring Zuko's groan from the counter, and headed towards the back of the shop where Pao was standing.

"I think you're due for a raise," the short man told him.

Before Iroh could even react, Jet burst through the door, hook swords in hand and manic gleam in his eyes.

"I'm tired of waiting!" He yelled, then pointing at Iroh, he said, "That man is a Firebender!" Then to Zuko, "And his 'pet' is some sort of…well, I don't know what he is, but he definitely ain't no polar-dog".

Everyone in the shop stopped to stare at the crazy boy who had just ruined their peaceful evening like he had grown a second head.

"Don't look at me like that! I know he's a Firebender! I saw the old man heating his tea!"

The officer cocked an eyebrow at him. "He works in a teashop."

"He's a Firebender, I'm telling you! And I saw Yuki in their apartment! He was a human! And he talked!"

"Drop your swords boy, nice and easy." The officer and his fellow guard, who had been sitting at the table with him, stood from their chairs and prepared to subdue the distraught teen.

"You'll have to defend yourself. Then everyone will know. Go ahead; show them what you can do," Jet growled at the two Fire Nation princes.

Jet raised his hook swords and slowly walked towards Iroh and Zuko, who had slowly made his way to his Uncle's side at the Freedom Fighter's appearance. One of the officers prepared to draw the swords at his waist when Zuko stepped in front of him and bared his fangs at his one-time partner in crime.

"You want a show? I'll give you a show," he said quietly, so only the other boy could hear.

The scraggly teen's eyes went wide. This proved to be enough of a distraction for Zuko to make the first move. The Wolf hopped on the edge of a table, knocking it over before sending it flying toward the boy with a sharp kick of his back legs.

Jet sliced his hook swords into the table and leaped over it. As he landed, the teen brought both hook swords down at Zuko. The prince managed to dodge the attack and jump backward on to another table, barely missing getting sliced up. Jet swung one sword through the middle of the table, cutting it in half with Zuko still on top.

Zuko stepped to one half of the broken table and balanced on his back paws. Jet followed up his attack by cutting through the legs on the half of the table the Wolf was standing on. Zuko quickly hopped on to the other half that was still standing and landed gracefully despite his tense forelegs.

Jet knocked that half of table to the ground, but the prince jumped into the air and snapped his fangs at Jet's feet as he landed. The Freedom Fighter flipped away and landed in a crouching position before charging forward at Zuko again.

The Wolf snarled and snapped at the other boy as he charged. Jet brought his swords down towards him hard, nearly hitting a customer, who screamed as the air from the sharp objects blew in their face.

This was bad. This guy didn't care who got in the way as long as he eliminated his targets. They needed to take this somewhere else.

Barking angrily, Zuko turned and dashed toward the door, busting through it seconds later -thankfully it was still open somewhat- he tumbled onto the street.

Jet ran after him and did a few spins before striking at Zuko with both swords. The prince managed to dodge the attack and both combatants stopped to glare at the other and, in Jet's case, catch their breath.

"You must be getting tired of dodging so much. Why don't you go ahead and go human, or whatever it is you do and Firebend at me?" the scraggly boy huffed.

As they glared daggers at each other, Iroh stepped out of the shop, and yelled, "Please son, you're confused. You don't know what you're doing!"

Zuko snapped at Jet as Uncle distracted the boy, but he caught the Wolf on the head with a fist, causing him to see stars, then spun around and deflected another attempted bite.

The prince spun around with him and tried to counter attack, but Jet hooked the ends of his swords together and began twirling them at Zuko in large circular motions. He retreated back a few steps to avoid the bladed hilt.

"Bet you wish he'd help you out with a little fire blast right now."

Zuko didn't let him know that that was exactly what he was hoping for. Better yet, he'd rather just cast his spell and punch the guy in the face, but with so many people around, that was impossible.

As Jet swung at Zuko's feet, the Wolf jumped up and landed down on the hilt, jerking it from the boy's grasp and pinning it to the ground under his weight. The Freedom Fighter looked at it with annoyance before focusing back on Zuko.

"You're the one who needs help," Zuko growled.

Letting out a growl of his own, Jet let go of his pinned hook sword and retreated a step. He turned in a circle and tried to slice Zuko in half, but the prince quickly advanced on him and swiped a sharp-clawed paw at Jet in a horizontal motion. Jet pulled back just in time to bend backward and avoid being cut to shreds.

By this point, several people had congregated in the street, watching the fight.

"You see that? The Fire nation is trying to silence me! It'll never happen."

Just as Jet launched himself at the Wolf again, two Dai Li agents pushed their way through the crowd to see what was going on. Upon spotting the enraged, sword-wielding boy and the snarling animal, they hollered out, "Drop your weapons!"

Relaxing slightly, Zuko eased out of his fighting stance. Jet on the other hand, pointed a hook sword at Iroh.

"Arrest them," he ordered. "They're Fire Nation."

Iroh spoke up next, the picture of confusion. "This poor boy is confused. We're just simple refugees."

"This young man wrecked my teashop, and assaulted my employees," Pao yelled, pointing an indignant finger at Jet.

The Earth Kingdom officer stepped up behind the pair. "It's true, sir," he confirmed. "We saw the whole thing. This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city."

"Oh, ho, ho. That's very sweet."

The Dai Li agents walked up to Jet, clearly not amused with this whole situation. "Come with us, son," they commanded.

Jet swung his sword at one of the Dai Li agents, but the man caught it with his stone glove. The agent ripped the sword from Jet's hand and both guards pulled the boy's arms behind his back, binding his wrists together using the stones on the palms of their gloves. They dragged Jet towards a wagon designed for holding captured criminals.

"You don't understand!" The boy pleaded desperately. "They're Fire Nation! You have to believe me!"

Zuko and Iroh watched as Jet was put into the wagon. Neither knew quite what to say about what had just happened, so they merely headed back into the shop as the crowd dispersed.

As the Wolf headed back to his spot by the counter, he couldn't help thinking the one question that kept bombarding his thoughts.

Is this really how low the rest of the world thinks of the Fire Nation?

**A/N: Heheh, at the time I wrote this, my seven and eight year old nieces had been at my house for a week, and anything and everything began annoying me. It seems my irritation kinda bled into my writing, though I think it works, since Zuko's annoyed with Ba Sing Se in general. xP **

**Also, I forgot to mention this on my last update, but I've had a few people ask me if this is going to be Zutara. My answer is NO. This is not a romance fic…at all. Zuko is not human, therefore, he will not be romantically involved with any humans…and I highly doubt any Wolves in this. So for those of you who feared this would be Zutara (or any other Zuko/someone relationship), don't worry. And for those who wished it was, sorry, but there's no way that's happening in this story.**

**As an update, I'm trying to update this once a week, though I don't know if I'll be able to upload anything next week, as I'll be helping my brother, who's having surgery in two days, and he lives eleven hours away. (Yes, my family has a lot of health issues.) I will be writing while I'm there, so hopefully I can get at least something uploaded next week. No promises, though. xP**

**Anyway, long author's note is long. Reviews are loved! :D**


	7. Chapter 6

Wolf of Fire

Chapter 6

Aang was having a blast. After seeing the poor conditions in Ba Sing Se's only zoo, he had taken it upon himself to do something for the cramped, starving animals inside.

After all, wasn't helping those in need his job as the Avatar?

Using his bison whistle, he managed to round up all the animals that had taken off and started reeking havoc on the unsuspecting citizens of the city after he had opened their cages. Aang led them to the inner wall, where two surprised guards hastily opened a hole in the wall large enough for the plethora of creatures to stampede through into the vast space between Ba Sing Se's walls.

As he soared over each type of animal -who had thankfully seemed to stay together with their own species- the Avatar raised fences and lowered the ground where it needed it with his newly acquired Earthbending skills. The result was multiple pastures and habitats large enough for each breed of animal to roam and feed comfortably.

Once finished, Aang landed near the deep hole that was the rabbiroo pin to admire his work. Things hadn't gone exactly as planned, but all in all, he thought the zoo couldn't have turned out bett-

The boy's musings were interrupted by a low growl coming from behind him. Whirling around, Aang was shocked to see a familiar lump of white fur down in the rabbiroo pin. Two gold eyes glared up at him with a look so fierce, the boy unconsciously took a step back, despite his distance.

What was _he_ doing here?

"If you don't get me out of here in the next five seconds, Avatar, so help me, I will eat your friends, starting with the Idiot, and drag you kicking and screaming back to my father by your arrows," Zuko growled.

"…Zuko?" Aang asked dumbly.

The prince snorted. "And how many other talking animals do you know of?" Leaving no room for a reply from the other boy, he ordered, "Now get me out of here!"

Snapping into action, the Avatar planted his feet firmly on the ground in a horse stance and made an uppercut motion with his fist. A wall of Earth jutted from the ground in the pit, forming stairs that lead to the top of the fence blocking off zoo visitors from hopping rabbiroo below. Each end was a mere few feet away from each boy.

He silently waited as Zuko climbed the stairs, watching as the Wolf landed next to him, shaking his fur in frustration.

"So…what are you doing here?"

Zuko shot him a glare that clearly told him to mind his own business. "I could ask you the same thing. You have your Earthbending teacher, why would you come here of all places?" He was sure by now the Avatar had to have heard that "there was no war in Ba Sing Se". The Wolf scoffed at the thought of that stupid rule. Ignoring a problem wouldn't make it go away. One of these days, no doubt, this city would learn that the hard way.

The look on Aang's face could only be described as heartbroken. "We lost Appa…we're here looking for him."

"…You lost a ten-ton flying bison?" the older boy asked incredulously.

"No!" defended the Avatar. "He was stolen!"

"Uh…huh," Zuko said slowly. "And you think he's here?"

"We were told by the Sandbenders that stole him that they sold him to some people from Ba Sing Se." There was a pregnant pause before Aang perked up. "You're good at tracking, right? Maybe you could use his scent and find where they're kee-"

"No." At the boy's questioning whine, the prince added, "You may have saved Uncle, but I don't owe you anything. I won't betray my father just to help reunite you with your stupid pet".

Aang thought about protesting, but decided against it. Zuko had already made it clear that he had no intentions to help in their quest whatsoever before they had separated in the desert.

Sighing, he decided it was better to just change the subject. They'd have to find Appa without the Wolf's amazing sense of smell. "So um…where's Iroh? Is he here too?"

Zuko gave him a skeptical look, but answered regardless, "Of course he's here. He's living his dream of working in a stupid teashop". A pause, then, "But he took the day off, since its…" He decided not to finish. What did the Avatar care if it was the anniversary of Lu Ten's death? It was hard enough knowing that he was living in the very city his beloved cousin was killed in and seeing his Uncle's face this morning after he realized what day it was; he didn't need this kid's pity on top of it all.

This anniversary was the only thing keeping him from following through with his earlier threat to capture Aang. He just wasn't in the mood today, and that stupid bison whistle had just made his day even worse. Zuko honestly couldn't say what had come over him when he heard it; he had heard it before, and it had had no effect except for a headache. He had no clue what was so different about it now. One minute, he was sitting on the roof of their apartment, the next he was running like mad towards the shrill sound. It was almost as if something were calling to him, urging him to follow or suffer the consequences.

Shaking his head, the Wolf said, "Never mind. I gotta go". The sooner he got away from the Avatar today, the better. His mood was sour enough as it was.

With that he turned and made his way back to the Lower Ring, leaving a speechless Aang behind.

WOLF OF FIRE

After making sure that everyone's pets that had wandered in with the zoo animals were safely with their owners once again, the Avatar glided back to their temporary house in the Upper Ring. He was disappointed, to say the least, that Zuko had refused to help him find Appa. With the way the Wolf was constantly sending the bison odd glances, Aang had been sure that Zuko had wanted to make friends with him.

…Then again, he could have just been hungry. Flying bison were made up of a lot of meat, after all.

Aang shivered at the thought of Zuko eating his best friend. Now that he thought about it, he was positive that friendship was the last thing on the teen's mind.

Shaking hid head free of the disturbing direction his mind was going, the boy slid open the door and stepped through the threshold. After propping his staff up against the wall, he made his way over to the low table in the room and settled down on a pillow next to Katara.

The two girls had gone to the spa today, and Aang had been wondering how that had gone, Toph not being a girly-girl and all.

Unfortunately, the first thing out of his mouth was, "What happened to your faces?"

This earned him a glare from Katara, and a pebble flung at his face from Toph.

"It's called make-up, Aang," the Waterbender snapped. "It's a girl thing; you wouldn't understand."

"I'm a girl, and I _still_ don't understand it," Toph added. "But still, make another comment like that, and it'll be more than a pebble coming at you next time."

The Avatar rubbed the back of his baldhead sheepishly. "Eheh, sorry. So, um…how was you guy's day?"

"Boring!" Sokka screeched. "While you guys went off to have fun, I was here. Doing nothing. Ya know why?" he asked, though he didn't give anyone a chance to answer. "Because you all left without me, that's why! I told you to wait up, but _nooooo_. Katara and Toph wanted to have a _guy-free day_ and Aang was in too much of a hurry to go see the animals! I like animals too, ya know?"

"You mean you like to _eat_ animals," Katara said knowingly.

The warrior nodded. "Yes, yes I do, Katara."

Toph sent a wave of Earth underneath the teen's seat, sending him sprawling on the floor with a yelp. "Oh, quit your whining, Snoozles. To answer your question Twinkletoes," she continued, ignoring Sokka's protests that men do not whine. "Our day was pretty awesome. Especially went we sent those snooty girls into the river!"

Aang simply stared as the two girls burst into laughter. He shared a glance with the other male in the room, who merely shrugged and muttered, "Girls".

"How about you, Aang?" asked the Waterbender once her fit of giggles had ended. "How was your day?"

"It was…good, I guess," he answered hesitantly.

"Did something happen with the zoo?"

"No, no, the zoo went fine," Aang amended. "It's just…I saw Zuko there."

Sokka raised an eyebrow at this. "Zuko hangs out at the zoo?"

"I think he came along with the rest of the animals…Anyway, I asked him if he would help with finding Appa."

"That's great, Aang!" Katara exclaimed.

"He refused to help," Aang said sadly.

The Waterbender's gaze hardened. "Why would he refuse? We healed his uncle for him!"

"He didn't want to betray the Fire Lord."

"Oh…" The siblings had already informed the others about the unique bond between a Wolf and their pack leader.

"Well, we don't need his help anyway," Sokka said, standing up. "We can find Appa without that tick-flea bag's tracking skills."

"Where are you going?" Toph asked him, eyebrow raised.

"There's a poetry school around here. I'm gonna go teach them how it's done, Water Tribe style."

WOLF OF FIRE

As the days passed, Zuko found it harder and harder to keep his mind off of the situations he had been presented with. The Avatar was in Ba Sing Se, and he had the perfect opportunity to capture him and go home. But on the other hand, Iroh had been given his own teashop in the Upper Ring, where they would soon be moving, much to Zuko's displeasure.

"So, I was thinking about names for my new tea shop. How about the Jasmine Dragon? It's dramatic, poetic, has a nice ring to it," Iroh asked, packing his things as Zuko walked into the small room of their apartment.

"The Avatar's here in Ba Sing Se," the Wolf replied, ignoring the old man's question. "I saw him the other day. He's lost his bison."

Surprise flashed in Iroh's eyes. "That is terrible." Then, noticing the look in his nephew's eyes, he said more firmly, "Zuko, we have a chance for a new life here. If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose _all_ the good things that are happening for us here."

The prince whirled around from his place by the window. "Good things that are happening for _you_ here," he snarled. "Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job as a guard dog?"

"There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity, nephew. I suggest you think about what it is that you want for your life, and why."

Turning back to stare out the window, Zuko said quietly, "I want my destiny".

"What that means is up to you," he told the boy. As Zuko moved into his room, Iroh continued with his original train of thought. "The Tea Weevil! No, that's stupid."

Later that night, the Wolf made a decision: he wasn't going to sit around and do nothing while his destiny was sitting right under his nose.

Getting into his Blue Spirit guise was a simple enough feat. He had learned in the first years of his banishment that not only could he change the length of his hair on his illusion -though it grew at a normal, if not slightly fast, rate for a human- at will, but he could also add a mask to it. Akarra had taught him how to change the appearance of his clothes when he was just a pup, so changing his regular clothes to his black Blue Spirit outfit was easy. She also taught him how to project his illusion, which came in handy when he was being chased. Though it could only appear a few meters away from him.

He learned early on that once a Wolf's first illusion was cast -usually by the mother- their appearance was set, seemingly aging naturally for the rest of the animal's life. Only scars from injuries dealt on a Wolf's true form could alter the appearance of an illusion. It was because of this reason that Wolves were considered the most beautiful among the Water Tribe people. Not that Zuko cared much about things as trivial as beauty. His body was a weapon, and as long as it functioned to fulfill his destiny, he didn't care what he looked like. He had stopped a long time ago.

Though he couldn't change how his illusion's face looked physically, he was able to cover it up. His choice of disguise was a smiling, horned demon.

Zuko made his way out of the apartment through the window in his room, then cast his changed illusion. He ran on light feet down dark alleys, weaving around trashcans and avoiding hissing and snarling animals that saw his true form as he passed. It didn't take long to find what he was looking for.

Walking through the streets on patrol was a lone Dai Li agent. As the man passed the entrance to an alley, the Blue Spirit charged up the street behind him.

"Out of my way, Skinny," Zuko growled, knocking the agent to his knees as he rushed by.

The man leaped to his feet, stone glove poised to attack. He cursed as the masked man seemed to glide around a corner to a side street. Rounding the corner, he saw the black-clad figure waiting in the darkness. He launched his gloves at him, one after the other. The second stone fist smashed into the Blue Spirit's head, knocking it clean off of his shoulders. The rest of the body followed it to the ground.

The Dai Li agent gaped as the entire thing disappeared completely. "Huh…?" He heard the telltale whisper of blade being pulled from sheath and froze as he felt a sword being pressed against his neck.

"If you don't want to end up like him, you'll do what I say," Zuko growled in his ear.

"W-what do you want?" the man squeaked beneath the blade on his throat. He was obviously a new recruit, if his shivering was anything to go by.

"Tell me where they're keeping the Avatar's bison."

WOLF OF FIRE

It didn't take long to find him. The agent had proven to be quite useful after all, that is, before he had been knocked unconscious. His directions led Zuko to a lake where, after some searching, he found an entrance to the Dai Li's headquarters underneath.

Once inside, though the musty smell was nearly unbearable, the Wolf caught the obvious scent of the world's last flying bison. He didn't even bother with the man's instructions anymore; he had followed that smell so long and in worse conditions, it was almost second nature to find Appa.

Zuko kept his spell cast while inside the HQ. It wouldn't do for the Dai Li to go after Uncle because his polar-dog had invaded their territory. He needed to hurry though. The pain was becoming too much for him.

There!

He sprinted to a large metal door and slid it open, thankful that someone had been careless enough to leave it slightly ajar. Light flooded the large room as the metal creaked on its hinges. Zuko spotted Appa right away –not that he was hard to miss. He was chained to the floor, each foot held in a thick iron cuff.

As the Wolf entered, the bison rose to his feet, moaning uncertainly. A pang of pity shot through Zuko's chest with that single noise. It spoke volumes of what the poor creature had been through.

Steeling himself, he glared at the animal. "Expecting someone else?"

He took a step forward, causing Appa to shift nervously. He began growling and stamping his feet in an attempt to keep the Wolf away.

"You're mine now," Zuko told him, eyes narrowing.

The Blue Spirit turned and readied himself for a fight as the door screeched open farther. He relaxed slightly as Iroh entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"Uncle?"

"So, the Blue Spirit," said the old general, feigning surprise. "I wonder who could be behind that mask."

Zuko breathed a sigh as he let his illusion fade, his insides cooling from the strain that had been put on them. "What are you doing here?" he asked. How had Uncle found out where he was going?

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. What do you plan to do now that you have found the Avatar's bison? Keep it locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?"

"First I have to get it out of here," the Wolf answered, stepping closer to the trapped bison.

A vein nearly popped in Iroh's forehead. "And then what!" he asked, disappointed fury lacing his words. "You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole! You had him, and then you had no where to go!"

"I would have figured something out!"

"No!" he protested. Why couldn't this boy see the obvious? "If his friends hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death! You may be a Wolf, but your body is not accustomed to the intense cold of the Water Tribes!"

Zuko looked away, his voice weak as he said, "I know my own destiny, Uncle".

"Is it your own destiny? Or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?" Iroh asked forcefully.

"Stop it, Uncle. I have to do this," ordered the teen weakly.

"I'm _begging _you Prince Zuko! It's time for you to look inward, and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you? And what do _you_ want?"

Stamping a paw on the ground, Zuko threw his head back and let out a frustrated howl, the sound echoing off the stone walls around them.

Why did his life have to be so complicated?

"Tell me, Prince Zuko," Iroh started after the echoes died down, gentler this time. "What do you think will happen if you do capture the Avatar?"

"I'll go home! Father will restore my honor! He'll love me again!"

"Will he?" he asked sadly.

"What are you talking about? Of course he will!"

Iroh sighed. "Nephew, have you forgotten what happened at the resort? Ozai knows your secret, granted he doesn't know it all, but he knows you are not his true son, his true heir. Do you really think he will restore you to your position if you ever managed to bring Avatar Aang to him?"

The was a pause before Zuko finally whispered, "He…he has to. I've worked so hard…he _has_ to." A small whimper escaped him. Though it was quiet, the old general heard it as if the Wolf had howled again.

Sighing, Iroh moved forward and placed a hand on his nephew's head, stroking the soft fur affectionately. "Zuko, I do not mean to upset you. I only wish for you to be happy."

"You want me to help them, don't you?" He glanced over at Appa, who still eyed the Wolf warily, though he seemed to have calmed down a bit. "You think I should set the bison free."

"I want you to do what you feel is right, my nephew. Search your heart, and decide for _yourself_ what you should do."

Zuko sat for several moments staring at the floor, letting Uncle pet him, as he pondered all that the man had said. Sighing, he finally looked up and, in a small voice, asked, "Could you help me Uncle? The bison…needs to be with the Avatar, and I…I can't open the shackles…"

Iroh beamed. He knew his nephew would make the right decision. The boy truly was a good person at heart. "I would love to, Prince Zuko."

Pulling out a set of keys he had snatched from a Dai Lee agent on his way here, Iroh led the young prince to the bison's side. Within a few minutes, the cuffs were gone, and with a grateful moan, so was Appa.

WOLF OF FIRE

Upon returning to the apartment, Zuko could tell something was seriously wrong. He couldn't explain it; something within him just felt…off.

Feeling downtrodden after what happened under Lake Laogai, the Wolf trudged through the door, followed close behind by a cheerful Iroh.

"You did the right thing, letting the Avatar's bison go free," said the man proudly as he shut the door behind him.

Zuko wobbled over to a nearby end table in an attempt to get to his bedroom. Weakly, he mumbled, "I don't feel right," even as his vision began to blur and turn black around the edges. Before he could utter another word, the prince's eyes rolled back in his head, his legs giving out underneath him. He stumbled into the table, knocking over a vase before crashing to the floor amongst the shattered clay.

The last thing he heard was Uncle's cry of, "Zuko!" before his world went black.

**A/N: -****slides into the chapter- I made it! I wrote a whole chapter (on paper, which was a pain, I might add) while I was away, and it's all typed up, so here's this one! :D Also, a sleepless night jacked up on Dr. Pepper allowed me to work out the little details of this story, and I'm happy to report that the plot/timeline is all figured out, and now all that's left is to turn it into chapters, which shouldn't be too hard, as I've never before had ideas for a story flow so quickly as with this one. I'm super excited about what's to come, so look forward to it. ;]**

**As always, reviews are loved! :D**


	8. Chapter 7

Wolf of Fire

Chapter 7

"Brother!" Echoed a young voice throughout the large panda-lily-covered meadow. "Brother, wait up!"

"Hurry up! We're gonna miss the sunset!" replied an identical voice.

Laughter joined the youthful hollers as a third voice stated, "You know, your sister and I aren't as young as we used to be. We don't have as much spirit anymore like you two do".

"Oh?" Laughed the first to have spoken. "Is that the secret behind the territory's two best Spiritbenders? You've gotten so old you can easily bend the energy of others because you have none left of your own?"

"Hey!" cried the only feminine voice in the group. "I'll have you know that twenty-five is _not_ old, regardless of how forgetful my husband can be." She paused to glare at said man. "Now, come along or we really will miss the sunset."

Ten minutes later found the siblings on a cliff overlooking the ocean. They sat in a row in the flowers, watching the sun seemingly sink into the water's cold depths. The two younger boys, who were twins of sixteen, sat on the left, while the young couple sat on the right.

"I love the ocean," claimed the oldest male. "There's just something so relaxing about the way it moves."

His wife smiled as she wrapped an arm around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. "You know," she started. "The ocean wouldn't be able to move like it does were it not for the push and pull of the moon. Now _that_ is something truly relaxing. I could stare at a full moon for hours."

The couple averted their eyes from the reddening sky as an indignant snort sounded next to them.

"The moon and ocean? Those two are nothing compared to the sun!" cried the eldest twin. "The only thing the moon is good for is telling the world when it's time to sleep. And the ocean for drowning sailors lost at sea. Now the sun; it warms the Earth, gives us life, and tells us it's time to get up and _live_."

A heated argument ensued about which force of nature was superior before the teen turned to his twin. "Well, Little Brother? What do you think?"

"Huh? Oh, well, they're all okay, I guess."

"You 'guess'? Oh, that's right. You're more interested in your _Dao_, aren't you?"

"Mm," he replied, ignoring his brother's taunting tone. "I'm not any good at bending, so I'd rather fight with my swords."

"Fight?" Asked his sister incredulously. "Are you training to be a warrior or something, Little Brother?" She laughed as the youngest of the group bristled.

"Of course not," he said defensively. "Warriors fight to survive, I fight to protect. I'll protect my friends, my family, my _people_. When someone's in trouble, I will do everything in my power to help them."

The boy's brother-in-law chuckled. "You sound like the Blue Spirit."

Eyes widened as the teen squeaked out, "Y-you think so?"

Seeing his brother's reaction, the eldest twin said, "Don't tell me he's the reason you want to be a 'protector'."

"I've wanted to help people long before he showed up," he snapped. Then gentler, he added, "I just wish he could do more to help out, ya know? Even if it was indirectly, I wish the Blue Spirit could do something to help change the world for the better."

The woman smiled as the sun faded beyond the horizon. It all made sense now; the similar weapons, similar viewpoints, the way he had been sneaking out of the house when he thought the rest of them were asleep.

Her youngest brother _was_ the Blue Spirit.

WOLF OF FIRE

Zuko moaned as he cracked his eyes open. He felt like he was on fire.

Uncle was kneeling at his side. He placed a cool cloth over his nephew's head saying, "You're burning up. You have an intense fever. This will help cool you down".

"So thirsty," uttered the Wolf weakly. He tried pushing himself into a sitting position using his front paws, but was pushed back down by Iroh.

The old general slid a wooden bucket across the floor to Zuko. "Here's some clean water to drink." He helped the Wolf lift his heavy head and moved the water within easy reach to drink. Tucking the covers tighter around the teen as he lapped up the water, Iroh told him, "Stay under the blankets and sweat this out".

"Uncle," mumbled the prince between gulps. "I don't sweat."

"Ah, forgive me, nephew. I forgot," Iroh amended. "I have never taken care of an ill Wolf before." After the bucket was emptied, he pulled it to the side and stroked Zuko's neck affectionately. "Get some more rest. I will still be here when you wake up."

Easing his head back to his paws, the Wolf suffered through a coughing fit before shutting his eyes once again and letting sleep claim him.

WOLF OF FIRE

"Hey, Brother?" Asked the youngest of the twins as the pair sat in their usual spot to watch the sunset. It was just them this evening, as their sister and her husband had to work overtime at their Spiritbending school.

"Hmm? What is it, Little Brother?"

"Do you believe in reincarnation?"

"What kind of question is that?" Asked the eldest. "Of course I do."

There was a pause before the first continued. "Well, have you ever, ya know, thought about what you want to come back as after you die?"

"I've done more that just think about it," he answered proudly. "I've already decided that I'm not coming back as anything here on Earth." At his brother's questioning gaze, he clarified. "I'm gonna stay in the Spirit World and become the sun itself!"

"How're you gonna do that?"

He paused to think about it for a moment, then admitted, "I'm not sure, exactly…but I'll make it happen somehow. I've had these visions lately of long creatures with claws and fangs. They have wings that allow them to fly like the fastest flying bison, and while some have manes like the great lion-turtles, others have horns upon their heads. But regardless of what kind they are, they all can breathe fire. Dragons are servants of the sun, and I'm gonna create them once I become the Spirit of the Sun!"

"'The Spirit of the Sun'?" Echoed his younger brother. "In that case, Tui and La should become the Ocean and Moon Spirits!"

They both laughed.

"I can actually see that happening. But wait," said the oldest, suddenly serious. "It we all are becoming major Spirits when we die, then what about you?"

"I've been having visions lately too, actually," replied the other twin.

"Oh?"

"They're of creatures as well; about the size of a large dog, with claws and fangs too. But these, they serve no nature Spirit. They live only for their pack, their family, and will do anything for the pack leader."

"Sounds like they share your ideals," his brother mused.

"Mm, they do. There's a strong bond between the leader and the rest of the pack, and if something ever happens to that bond, say by betraying orders or going against the leader's teachings, there are dire consequences."

"What do you mean?"

"If one of these creatures break the bond with a dishonorable leader, they will become ill, but they will eventually recover, though whether they turn bad or good from it is up to them. However, if the bond is broken dishonorably from a just leader, the lower ranking one will die."

"Wow. They seem pretty intense. And you're going to be the Spirit reigning over these…these…what are they called?"

"Wolves," replied the teen proudly. "I'm going to become the Spirit of the Wolf."

WOLF OF FIRE

The next time awareness returned to the young Wolf, he spotted his uncle a short distance away, pouring tea into a stone bowl.

"You should know this is not a natural sickness," Iroh informed him, helping him gulp down the warm liquid. "But that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea."

Felling extremely disoriented, Zuko asked," What…what's happening?"

"I am assuming, though I could be wrong, as I am not an expert on Wolves," started the old man, "that your critical decision; what you did beneath that lake…it was in such conflict with yourself, that you are now at war within your own mind and body."

"What's that mean?" Asked the prince before falling into another coughing fit.

"Regardless of the cause, you're going through a metamorphosis, my nephew. It will not be a pleasant experience, but when you come of it, you will be the beautiful leader you were always meant to be."

Dipping the washcloth in the nearby bucket of cool water, Iroh placed it on the prince's head once more. However, it did not help his fever this time.

As the hours passed, Zuko's temperature only rose. And with the increasing heat, the teen's dreams began to intensify as well.

WOLF OF FIRE

His body seemed to glide through the halls of the palace that had been his home the majority of his life.

Only, things weren't as he remembered them.

On the left, all was as it had always been in the Fire Nation palace, with its blazing torches and proud tapestries displaying the country's emblem. In the reflection of al the mirrors and paned windows on the walls, his illusion stared back at him unscarred, clad in the blood-red armor of a prince and ever growing hair pulled back into a topknot.

To his right was what appeared to be a frozen wasteland, not unlike what he saw in the North just a few months earlier, although there were quite a few more caves around. Covering the snow all around the area were hundreds, if not thousands of paw prints where several Wolves had gone about their daily lives of…whatever it was that normal Wolves did.

In the large hunks of ice littering the ground, he could see his true form, also unscarred. His fur seemed ever whiter surrounded by the bright snow, his eyes glowing more vibrantly than in even the purest of full moons.

After what felt like hours of going through the seemingly endless hallway/tundra, he finally came upon the familiar doors of the Fire Lord's throne room. As he drew closer, the large mahogany doors swung inward and in the blink of an eye, he was perched upon the dais at the top of the stairs on the far side of the room.

On his left, the fire of the throne blazed a brilliant blue, while on the other side, the fire was crimson, flecked with bright oranges and pure whites; the color of Uncle Iroh's flames. As he stared at the blue fire, his illusion seemed to become reality. When his gaze traveled to the crimson fire, any semblance of a human form was non-existent.

He jumped as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Before he could even react, a large blue face emerged from the flames on his left, stopping a mere few inches from the side of his face. It's long, serpentine body coiled around the columns of the dais, trapping him inside. Not that he was planning on going anywhere. He couldn't even manage to avert his gaze to either side anymore. Instead, he stared straight ahead at the doors across the large room.

"You're looking exhausted, Fire Lord Zuko," it said in a sly voice that sounded suspiciously like Azula.

"I'm not tired," he protested even as his eyelids began to grow heavy.

"Sleep," drawled the dragon.

As Zuko's eyes began to close, an unfamiliar voice hollered our, "No!"

The prince's eyes snapped open, and he found he could move once more as the dragon had disappeared. He glanced to his right to see a large gray Wolf with eyes such a light blue they appeared to be silver.

He, for it was definitely male, spoke with a deep, clear voice. "Do not listen to the blue dragon, my son. She is a deceiver; she will feed you lies and lead you to not only your own demise, but that of our people as well."

"What do you mean?" The teen managed to ask.

"What do you think Ozai will do when he finds out that not only are you not his son, but you are not even human? He will slaughter us," he said solemnly. "It will be the Air massacre all over again. The Fire Lord will not take kindly to being tricked, especially for over sixteen years. He will be angry; he will want revenge for making him look like a fool."

"No, that's not what I…what do you mean 'my son'?"

The Wolf chuckled. "Forgive me, Zuko. My name is Kaname, and I am your true father."

WOLF OF FIRE

Zuko awoke with a start. Glancing around, he saw Iroh curled up on a pallet sound asleep.

The prince's breath came in short bursts as he recalled his dream.

Could that really have been…his father?

WOLF OF FIRE

"So this is the one?" Asked the newest addition to the group of siblings, a princess by the name of Yue. "I remember seeing him at the Spirit Oasis."

"That's right," confirmed a Wolf so dark, he appeared to be almost blue. "He's the White One I gave to Brother."

"Honestly, Ookami," sighed a man clad completely in various shades of blues. His eyes shimmered like the sun glistening under the waves; his short hair swayed as if it were caught in the tide. "You'd think after all this time, you would start calling him Agni. You know, his _name_? Not 'Brother'." He had become quite bitter after the death of his wife.

"Oh, come off it, Tui," said brother retorted. Agni wore long, red flowing robes, while his black hair and goatee seemed to let off steam. His eyes blazed a brilliant gold, rivaled only by the one who was the reason for the four to assemble together. "What he calls me is not the issue here. Don't forget we're here because the comet is coming closer, and Prince Zuko does not yet know of the role he is to play in this war."

Yue cleared her throat to catch the attention of the three male spirits around her. "I'm sorry, but I thought we were not allowed to influence the action of mortals."

"You're right," Ookami agreed before yawning. "We cannot make decisions for them, but that doesn't mean we can't send him visions of things to come to help push him in the right direction."

And that's exactly what they did. While the young Wolf tossed and turned in fitful, fevered sleep, the four great Spirits combined their efforts to fill Zuko's dreams with visions of the comet and what would happen when it came.

**A/N: Bleh, sorry it's late. Life's been busy lately, and it's kept me from writing. D: But here it is. :D**

**Reviews are loved! x3**


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